Tanta University students arrested from homes following campus protests

Three Tanta University students were arrested from their homes late Sunday, following protests that took place on campus against the transfer of sovereign control of the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, according to lawyer Yasmine Hossam Eddin.

Student Ahmed Abu Leila, along with twin brothers Ibrahim Samir and Abdel Rahman Samir, were arrested, Hossam Eddin said, adding that their whereabouts remain unknown. Security forces also confiscated several books and other belongings from their homes.

According to the lawyer, the brothers did not participate in the island protests, but were arrested based on a warrant against them for participating in previous protests on the fifth anniversary of the January 25 revolution. She explained that Abu Leila, however, did take part in Saturday’s campus protests.

The Tanta University Student Union called a general meeting to discuss the arrests with the university's administration, asserting that campus protests on Saturday were peaceful and that students were merely expressing their opinions within their constitutional rights.  

The students also organized a protest in front of the university’s school of medicine against their colleagues’ detention, threatening to escalate if they are not released.

Several lawyers have been trying to locate the wherabouts of the students, Hossam Eddin said, adding that if they are not found, they will file against the state for forced disappearance.

Hundreds of students from Cairo, Tanta, Fayoum and Alexandria Universities staged protests over the weekend against the decision to transfer the sovereign control of the Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

The campus demonstrations echoed nationwide protests on Friday against the decision, which was declared during the visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to Egypt last week.

The student protests were staged as part of a campaign dubbed "Students Won't Sell" condemning the island transfer agreement.