Report issued on Cairo University student’s death

The legal committee investigating the death of Cairo University student Mohamed Reda during a student protest has issued a report on the incident.

Reda, a first year student in the Faculty of Engineering, was shot dead with three live bullets after the police fired rubber bullets and teargas during a student protest in front of the university's engineering faculty on November 28.

The president of the university assembled the committee to investigate Reda’s death, as well as the injury of several other students and alleged assault on the police forces stationed at the campus. The committee’s report, which was released on Sunday, included testimonies from Faculty of Engineering students and professors, as well as university administration.

The initial forensic report determined the cause of Reda’s death was massive internal bleeding caused by three live bullets in the back, chest and pelvis.  

The legal report concluded that the violence broke out when some of the students “engaged in a verbal altercation with the Central Security Forces stationed in Nahda Square. In response, the security forces immediately fired teargas at the students, which angered the students and incited them to chant against the CSF.”

The committee recommended that all reports related to the incident should be delivered to the public prosecution, along with any video documentation at the protest site. In addition, the committee also recommended that the forensic report conducted on Reda should be sent to another committee to determine whether the ammunition that killed him was the same type of ammunition used by the Ministry of Interior.  

The state-run Middle East News Agency reported that the university’s engineering students continued protesting on Monday, demanding retribution for Reda’s death and the release of students arrested in past protests.

The students held posters with the pictures of their arrested colleagues. Some painted graffiti, while others held up signs commemorating the deaths at Rabea al-Adaweya.

The rest of the university campus remained relatively calm.