Dozens Al-Azhar Students Continue Protests Over Arrests, Security Measures

Dozens of students at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University protested on Wednesday against the ongoing detention of their colleagues and revamped security measures across Egyptian universities.

Students at universities across the country have been protesting since the start of the new academic year to denounce a government crackdown on student dissidents and the imprisonment of their colleagues at previous protests.

Students at Al-Azhar University, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, protested on Wednesday against tightened security measures at universities, which include intrusive and time consuming checks by new private security guards, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Others blocked a road leading to the university to protest against violence during clashes between security forces and students at Alexandria University on Tuesday.

Security forces entered the campus on the day and clashes broke out with students. Two policemen and two students were injured in the violence, the interior ministry said, adding that 37 students were arrested. One student, Omar Sherif Abdel-Wehab, was severely injured in the fighting by what eyewitnesses said were birdshot pellets.

Egyptian universities were hit by unrest during the past academic year, serving as a hub for protests following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and a relentless crackdown on his supporters.

Several students were killed in the clashes, and hundreds of others were arrested or handed jail terms on charges of violence.

Source : Ahram online