Police on Sunday arrested 23 students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition group on the campus of Menoufiya University.
Police initially surrounded the campus to prevent students from holding a religious event to express solidarity with Islamic holy sites, including Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, in territories occupied by Israel.
Eyewitnesses say that seven students were seriously injured in subsequent clashes with the police, who later prohibited ambulances from entering the campus to take the injured to hospital.
According to security sources, university guards had claimed that students were planing to stage an on-campus "military parade," alleging that students had attacked security personnel.
MB spokesmen condemned the arrests."The police have no right to detain students as long as they are on campus," said MB lawyer Tareq Ragab.
In a related development, prosecutors in Tanta released six MB members and remanded two others into custody for 15 days pending investigation. The latter included Mahmoud el-Shamy, first cousin of recently-elected MB General Guide Mohamed Badie.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
