Three days after the resumption of studies and the start of the second semester protests rocked different Cairo universities.
The Independent University Movement, constituted of a number of Cairo University academic staff, demonstrated Monday inside the university to protest the detention of students.
The movement released a statement in solidarity with expelled students and professors who had been accused of “sabotaging the university.”
The statement said the movement was “not governed by political affiliations, but works to preserve the dignity of students and professors.”
Moral and financial hardships are inflicted on expelled students and their families, the statement said, adding that all the academic staff of Egyptian universities should join forces until the students are readmitted into the university.
Students from the Faculty of Agriculture at Cairo University protested for the release of their detained colleagues and demanded “retribution for murdered students.”
The Student Union of Cairo University’s Faculty of Pharmacy continued its strike which began Sunday. Dozens of students organized a march inside the faculty to urge their colleagues to participate in the strike and not attend any lectures.
The union released a statement saying that the strike aims to protest the “indiscriminate detention of students,” and called for the release of sophomore Hamdy Ali who had been “detained from his home for no reason.”
In Helwan University, south of Cairo, Muslim Brotherhood students organized a protest outside a lecture hall to denounce the return of University Police and demand the release of colleagues detained during previous protests.
The protest then marched across the university, and some protesters engaged in altercations with administrative security and university staff.
The protesters then took to Helwan University metro station, where some of them climbed on top of a train and raised photos of detained students. A number of passengers scuffled with the protesters for disrupting the metro.
