Police say postgrad protesters released, media claims organizer still detained

While Interior Ministry officials say postgraduate protesters arrested Sunday were released, local media outlets and protesters claim one of the coordinators is still in custody.

At least 31 masters and PhD holders were arrested on Sunday during a protest to demand public sector employment near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.

Among those arrested was one of the organisers of the demonstration, Mahmoud Abu Zeid, who local media sources reported is still in police custody and may be referred to the prosecution.

One of the protesters, Mohamed Saber, told Mada Masr that Abu Zeid was being held at Abdeen Police Station and was referred to the district prosecutor for investigation.

But the head officer at Qasr al-Nil Police Station, Hany Gergis, maintained all those detained during the protest were released on Monday morning and not referred for further investigation. He asserted they were bystanders who were wrongfully arrested, the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported.

Saber disagrees with this account. “Other than Abu Zeid, I personally know five of the protesters who were locked-up yesterday. It is quite likely that passersby were rounded up along with protesters, but most of those arrested were postgraduates peacefully protesting for their right to employment,” he said.

The state has appointed public university postgraduates to jobs in the public sector since the 1970s. However, since the uprising of January 25, 2011, scores of postgraduates have asserted the government has dragged its feet in terms of providing job opportunities.

The prime minister and his cabinet, along with a tripartite committee from the ministries of finance, planning and the Central Agency for Organization and Administration (CAOA) are directly responsible for overseeing the appointment of postgraduates. Thousands have historically been employed based on direct recommendations from the CAOA.

Since 2011, numerous protests have been organized by postgraduates outside the cabinet headquarters, CAOA and journalists’ and lawyers’ syndicates.

“It has been more difficult to find job opportunities in the public sector or state institutions under successive regimes — from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to the government of ex-Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, to the Muslim Brotherhood, to the government of President [Abdel Fattah al-] Sisi,” says Saber, who graduated from Alexandria University with an MA in 2012 and has been unemployed since.

Saber emphasized that he and other postgraduates aren’t interested in protesting for the sake of it, but are doing so in order to obtain essential employment.