(Photo from Student Against Coup)
At least 23 students were expelled from Al-Azhar University on Tuesday for their alleged implication in acts of on-campus violence, according to the university’s media centre.
The administration also suspended another 61 students, referring them to investigation over similar charges.
Students in Al-Azhah have been protesting against the closure of the dormitories and against the arrests of fellow students.
Demonstrations and clashes with security forces have occurred on university campuses across the country on numerous occasions since the beginning of the new academic year on 11 October. The first week of classes alone witnessed some 58 student protests against the heavy presence of police forces on campuses and the arrest and suspension of students.
The crackdown on protests appears to have intensified this week. In Fayoum University, 11 students were suspended and banned from entering the campus on Wednesday. The administration also banned 112 students from registering in the dormitories.
Four students from Alexandria University’s faculty of agriculture were also expelled on Wednesday for “protesting on campus and obstructing the educational process”, according to the Students Against Coup (ACA) movement.
The group added that students in Bani Suef University’s faculty of veterinary medicine have began a strike to protest the suspension of four colleagues accused of “organising protests, storming campus gates, and chanting against the army and the police”. The students said they would not attend classes until the expelled students are allowed back on campus.
Cairo University’s Chairman Gaber Nassar suspended one assistant professor for participating in “Muslim Brotherhood protests” on Tuesday, according to state media.
On the same day, Al Marsad Student Observatory reported that the Kafr El-Sheikh University referred 10 students to investigation for “insulting leading figures in the country”.
On Monday police forces stormed Al-Alzhar Girls University with armoured vehicles to disperse a protest. Two female students were reported to have sustained critical injuries. Also on Monday, the General Prosecutor sent three Al-Azhar students to the Emergency Criminal Court for inciting violence, participating in protests, and “plotting against the regime”.
SAC, a student organisation opposing the current regime, promised on Sunday that a new wave of protests will start against security forces until students regain their “dignity and respect”.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), a rights group, said that expulsions of students constitute “violations by the university’s administration”, in a report published Saturday.
Since the start of the academic year on 11 October more than 200 students have been arrested, according to AFTE.
