Egypt court upholds expulsion of Al-Azhar students for anti-military chants

An Alexandrian administrative court upheld Monday a decision taken by the head of Al-Azhar University to expel 10 students for “insulting the Egyptian army,” Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The court ruled on Monday that any offence against the Egyptian army should be considered an incitement to violence.

The students organised a protest inside Al-Azhar in October last year, and chanted slogans against the Egyptian military forces, including “down with military rule.”

The students also chanted slogans against the head of Al-Azhar and the police forces who were then present at the university, the case files stated.

In its ruling the court highlighted that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi had issued a decree in 2014 that gives the heads universities the right to expel any student who commits any violations inside the university.

Egyptian campuses were a hotspot for protests against El-Sisi in the months after the ouster of Mohamed Morsi. Several students were killed in clashes with security forces, and hundreds more were imprisoned.

source: Ahram Online