Students protesting Minya death sentences arrested, injured

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse students protesting on campuses across Egypt on Monday, angered by a Minya court’s controversial sentencing of 683 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death.

A number of injuries were reported during protests at Minya University, Al-Azhar University’s Faculty of Agriculture and Alexandria University, but are yet to be confirmed.

The students were identified as Muslim Brotherhood supporters, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA).

In Minya, state media reported that students captured and assaulted a policeman during the ensuring clashes.

Students were also accused of assaulting university officials and security personnel during protests at Alexandria University, leading to ten arrests, reported the state-owned news site EgyNews.

The Minya Criminal Court issued the mass death sentence after finding the defendants — including the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie — guilty of inciting violence, storming the Edwa police station and murdering a police officer there, according to MENA.

The court also upheld 37 of the 529 death sentences it had handed down to Brotherhood-affiliated defendants late last month, sentencing the remaining 492 defendants to life in prison.

The prosecutor general issued an appeal against the upheld death penalties later on Monday.

Students were also protesting against security interference on university campuses. Police intervention has been on the rise as student protests intensified this academic year in the aftermath of former President Mohamed Morsi’s fall from power.

Clashes with security forces have often been brutal. At least 14 students have been killed so far this academic year, according to a report issued on April 17 by the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).

The university administration stressed that exams would proceed as scheduled, and internal security personnel as well as police forces would be stationed on campus to ensure they would not be disrupted.