Al-Azhar University Expel 25 Student ‘Rioters’

Twenty-five students at Al-Azhar university were expelled for their alleged roles in riots that broke out on campus on Monday.

“Those who burned the university’s parking lot, are a paid and deviant group,” said the university’s statement which stressed that “such acts of vandalism” will not halt the educational process.

The university further vowed to impose a fierce punishment on any student proved to be involved in violence and riots taking place anywhere on campus.

Protesting students set fire to a parking garage near the university’s main administration in building, in addition to setting fire to a number of cars belonging to Al-Azhar faculty members.

Student’s recent riots and fury have been in response to the killing of two of their colleagues during on-campus clashes with security forces on Sunday.

They were also demanding the release of student detainees.

Al-Azhar University, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, has been the site of numerous protests since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Clashes have often broken out between pro-Morsi students and security forces at the university’s campuses in Cairo and other cities.

In February, the interim authorities issued a decree allowing security forces to enter campuses and granting university administrators the right to expel protesting students.

Since then, several students have been dismissed from many universities.

The law previously stated that a student would be referred to a disciplinary board.

Source : Ahram online