30 students arrested on campus

Thirty Egyptian students are reported to have been arrested following clashes which broke out in three universities yesterday between students and the police.

Abdel-Rahman Safwan, president of the oppositional group Students Against the Coup in the University of Alexandria, said: “Peaceful demonstrations were held today outside of the Faculty of Engineering to protest against the arrest of 30 students.”

In remarks made to the Anadolu Agency, Safwan added: “We were surprised to see that police had stormed our peaceful demonstration near the university gates. Their oppressive measures left tens of students injured.”

Safwan emphasised that the police arrested 30 students today before they left the university’s campus.

In total, approximately 61 students have been arrested from Alexandria’s campus since the beginning of the school year, according to Safwan.

In a statement issued yesterday evening, the Security Directorate of the City of Alexandria said: “A group of students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist group, were seen gathering outside the Faculty of Engineering. They were pelting passers-by and the police outside the walls with stones and fireworks to cause extensive damage to the university’s campus.”

The statement noted that the police entered the campus “based on a request made by Osama Ibrahim, the president of the university, who asked the police to resolve this incident after extensive damage was done to the campus. Police forces were able to restore security among the students on the campus”.

Several other Egyptian universities have also faced tightened security on their campuses due to the activity of oppositional students. Many students have protested what they are calling a “security crackdown”.

Many of the students are supporters of President Mohamed Morsi and they were seen carrying banners condemning the arrest of their colleagues.

Since last Saturday, many students have been clashing with Falcon, a private company that has been hired to ensure university security. Students Against the Coup have declared this academic year as a “revolutionary new year” against the current authorities, which it said was a result of the coup.

During the last academic year, Egyptian security forces accused the Muslim Brotherhood of using students to their advantage in local protests in an effort to undermine security within the country. Human rights organisations, on the other hand, said the security apparatus had committed numerous violations against student groups.