Higher Education Minister Hossam Eissa affirmed on Saturday that he was not defending the Interior Ministry when he commented that the birdshot used in the killing of the engineering student killed in a campus protest is not the same kind used by the police.
Essa had stated that even if the police used birdshots near the university, it was not the normal 4.8mm size, as it does not exceed 0.5mm to 1mm in size. “I did not defend the interior Ministry, but quoted the words of the minister. I am not an investigation entity of such issues,” he added.
Eissa told privately owned channel CBC that the university has the right to condemn the Interior Ministry’s use of violence, but wished it could have waited for the prosecution investigation, “The statement of the Cairo University regarding the student martyr Mohamad Reda has been proactive towards prosecution investigations.”
He described Gaber Nassar, the head of Cairo University, as a “main supporter of freedoms,” but said he should have waited for the investigations to be finished. “It is the right of a student to declare their opinion, but no one has the right to use violence.”
He stressed that he does not rule out the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood involvement in the killing of a student, accusing them of killing police officers every Friday during their marches.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
