Ten Ain Shams students arrested

Police forces arrested 10 students on Monday following clashes between security and Brotherhood students in front of Ain Shams University.

Violence erupted after Students Against the Coup (SAC) marched towards the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense (MOD), close to the university campus.

A researcher in the Academic Freedoms Program at the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), Moustafa Shawky, told Mada Masr that police forces initially arrested 24 students following the clashes. They later released 14 and referred 10 to Waily police station.

The charges against the students remain unknown, Shawky added.

Eyewitnesses told Mada Masr that protesters attempted to march towards MOD headquarters before security forces and plain-clothed personnel fired teargas canisters and pellet shots towards the university.

Protesters were pushed back to Abbaseya Square and hundreds of students who came to the university for their exams were stuck on campus for hours as university security locked the gates to prevent clashes from escalating on campus.

Tension has been growing on university campuses across Egypt following a wave of clashes between students and police forces that has resulted in hundreds of student arrests and suspensions.

Violence peaked in late November, when security forces allegedly killed Cairo University engineering sophomore Mohamed Reda with a pellet, while he was walking on campus.

While police forces have denied killing Reda, an investigative committee formed by Cairo University’s administration revealed testimonies from students who say security forces were responsible for his death.

Cairo University suspended classes in the Faculty of Engineering following the resignation of the faculty’s dean, Sherif Mourad, and his deputies, as well as the faculty’s student union president, Ahmed Mumtaz.