Ahram Online
April 19, 2015
The Cairo University’s administrative security evacuated staff from the university campus on Sunday afternoon after clashes erupted between pro-Morsi students and security, reported Ahram’s Arabic News website.
Clashes broke out between administrative security and pro-Morsi protesters after students organised demonstrations on campus earlier Sunday, demanding the release of their colleagues arrested and detained on protesting-related charges.
The clashes escalated violently as fireworks were reportedly used by the students.
The pro-Morsi “Students against Coup” group accused the administrative security at Cairo University of being brutal and attacking the students.
The administrative security at Cairo University is part of a private security company called “Falcon Company”.
The police forces outside the university interfered to stop the clashes on campus after an attempt by the students to storm the university gates and protest in the street.
The ministry of interior announced on Saturday that it had arrested 13 pro-Morsi protesters in the clashes at Cairo University, including Yahia Mahmoud El-Ghozlan, the son of leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood Mahmoud Ghozlan, and a student in the faculty of commerce.
The former spokesperson of Muslim Brotherhood, Ghozlan, was sentenced to death in early April for setting up an “operation room” in the protest camp at Cairo’s Rabaa Al-Adawiya square for supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi, in the summer of 2013.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, the ministry of interior accused the arrested students of rioting and attacking administrative personnel on campus. It added that it has referred them to prosecution.
Pro-Morsi students organised several rallies on campus at different universities including Cairo University and Al-Azhar University against the detention of students in accordance with a controversial protest law.
Hundreds of protesting students have been jailed since the passing of the strict protest law in November 2013.