Alexandria University Students Protest Jailing Of Colleagues

Hundreds of Alexandria University students protested on campus on Sunday, demanding the release of colleagues who were arrested last term in clashes with police, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The protesting students held signs depicting the four-fingered Rabaa symbol, a gesture of support for supporters of Mohamed Morsi. They also held photos of their detained colleagues.

At the same time, students of the university’s engineering faculty formed human chains at their campus in the city’s Al-Shatby district, to call for the immediate release of the detained students.

Beginning last September, students have been at the forefront of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood’s resistance to interim authorities, after a security crackdown on Islamist demonstrators rounded up thousands of Brotherhood members, including the group’s top leadership.

The authorities have issued a decree allowing security forces on campuses and granting university administrators the right to expel protesting students.

The spring term, which started in March after a long delay, has seen further protests.

On Saturday, 16 Al-Azhar students were sentenced to three years in prison for rioting, thuggery, blocking roads, attacking police officers, resisting the authorities, protesting without a permit, joining an armed terrorist gang that aims to disrupt national peace and security, possession of Molotov cocktails, and destroying public and private property.

Source : Ahram online