A dark day for Egypt's students

Violence overshadowed universities and schools across Egypt on Tuesday. 

Events began with the sudden death of a secondary school teacher from Sharqia governorate, north-east of Cairo. Muhammad Abd al-Salam went into cardiac arrest after his only son Ahmad, a business studies student at Zaqaziq University in lower Egypt, was arrested in front of him.

Security forces later stormed Abd al-Rahman Abu al-Makarim secondary school in the village of Dalja in the upper Egyptian province of Minya. They arrested teacher Ahmad Mahmoud Abdallah, reportedly terrifying students and staff alike.

The security services then set up cordons around several homes in Dalja, to shut down the movements of any anti-military activists in the area. Several people have recently died in the village protesting against last year's military coup.

Fatma Nassar is free, the revolution goes on. Down with military rule. - Chant at Alexandria University

Wave of dissent

Four students were expelled from Beni Suef University two weeks ago for organising protests at the entrance to the faculty of science. They were accused of violating the regulations of the Supreme Council of Universities.

Several women at al-Azhar Univerity in Zaqaziq were physically and verbally assaulted by security staff, stopping them from entering the university on Tuesday. Students later marched through the campus in protest at the expulsion of nine students for taking part in on-campus protests.

They had been demonstrating against the government's silence over the actions of Israeli activists at al-Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

Students at al-Azhar also organised a march to coincide with a visit by the minister of education. They were protesting against what they see as oppressive measures used against students - including the presence of security services in universities, and students being expelled for speaking out against military rule.

'Students against the coup'

Further rallies have been held by student movements at state universities in Helwan, Cairo and Sadat City.

In the faculty of business at Alexandria University, female students protested against the detention of their colleague Fatma Nassar, who has been imprisioned for a year.

"Fatma Nassar is free, the revolution goes on. Down with military rule," they chanted.

A group named "Students against the coup" at Fayoum University also held a silent protest over the government's lack of public outrage towards events at al-Aqsa mosque.

Students at al-Azhar's business faculty called for the families of those killed by security services to be given their rights, and for those detained to be released.

They held aloft pictures of two students, Islam Hamada and Khalid al-Haddad, who were killed by security forces at the start of the last academic year.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.