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Algerian academics protest against violence on campus

June 23, 2017 at 3:10 pm

Image of a protest in Algeria [Kazi UK/Twitter]

Dozens of university professors in Algeria held a protest outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the capital Algiers yesterday against the increasing cases of violence in universities.

Protesters gathered to denounce the killing of university Professor Karoui Bachir Serhan who was hit by a hammer on the head by two students. The reason for his murder is still unclear but reports have stated that he was killed for refusing to increase students’ grades or for personal reasons.

The academics stood in front of the Ministry of Higher Education with banners and slogans to condemn the prevalent cases of bullying on campuses.

Read: Lecturers assaulted in Algiers University by ‘thugs’

This has left professors fearful for their lives every day, protesters said.

Dr Ahmed Shater, a professor of political science at the University of Algiers, said he is afraid whenever he is in the university auditorium or the classroom with the fear of leaving his house every morning “without being sure he will return in the evening”.