Students at the German University in Cairo continue to demonstrate, reports Reem Leila Students at the privately owned German University in Cairo (GUC) did not attend classes on 7 March for two hours to pressure the university's administration to scrap the suspension of five students and a teaching assistant. Dozens of parents also demonstrated in front of the GUC on 5 and 6 March for four hours a day against the university's decision. The parents' protest was preceded by an open-ended hunger strike of five students which began on 2 March. Two days later, five more students joined the hunger strike to pressure the university into revoking its decision. Mohamed Dawoud, a student who was on hunger strike was taken to hospital after suffering health complications. The strike which entered its ninth day began after GUC decided on 28 February to expel students Hassan Othman Ziko, who was supposed to graduate this year from the Faculty of Engineering, and Amr Abdel-Wahab who is to graduate after one more semester. Students Ahmed Mekkawi, Ahmed Hassan and Mustafa Eissa were barred from university for two weeks. Teaching assistant Ahmed Wafik was suspended for three months. The decision followed strikes conducted by students for several days beginning on 18 February demanding the administration erect a memorial statue in honour of Karim Khozam. Khozam was killed in the 1 February massacre in Port Said in which 74 other people died in football violence during a league match between Al-Ahli and Al-Masri. During the protests students also demanded the removal of the name of former president Hosni Mubarak from the university's foundation stone, as well as the deletion of his picture from the university's official website. Ziko said that after the protests at GUC, he and four other students were summoned by the administration to an investigation without being notified of the reason. "We were referred to a disciplinary board headed by Ibrahim El-Demeri, which later permanently expelled two of us, and temporarily suspend the others for two weeks," said Ziko. El-Demeri who is a member of the board of trustees was a former minister of transportation when 400 passengers were burnt to death when an Upper Egypt train was set ablaze in February 2002. The date of the train tragedy coincided with that of the university's investigation with students. Accordingly, students chanted against El-Demeri, calling him a "killer" for being responsible for the train tragedy. The administration issued a statement accusing students of using insulting language, saying they had been transferred to a disciplinary board. The board decided on the penalties which it added were not related to the students' political affiliation. According to the statement published on its official website, the university said it regretted "the recent sad events taking place within and around its premises during the last few weeks. The incidents have been triggered by some of its students starting riots and transgressions that threaten the dignity of the academic faculty members and risking the safety of the university's students and buildings. This has caused the university to take the necessary measures to maintain the dignity of its faculty and to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of its students." In response to the statement, Ziko said, "We did not insult anyone. All we did was just state the facts. The former minister of transportation was responsible for the tragedy," stated Ziko. MPs Osama Yassin and Nader Bakar who belong to the Salafist Nour Party met with a delegation of students on 4 March for two days in an attempt to end the ongoing problem. Abdel-Wahab, one of the students expelled, pointed out during a meeting at the People's Assembly Youth Committee, "we submitted further demands -- the return of expelled and suspended students; the dismissal of El-Demeri who served as a minister during the regime of former president Mubarak; in addition to amending the university's regulatory laws." Since last year "we have been requesting the administration to make public the regulatory laws, but negligence was the administration's usual response," added Abdel-Wahab. MPs promised to ask the minister of higher education to end the crisis and allow students to resume their academic year in order not to risk their future. Other demands will be discussed later, Ziko said, quoting the MPs. At the same time, parents of expelled and suspended students along with a delegation of students held a conference at the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) and criticised the university for not allowing the students to protest within the campus. According to parent Mohamed El-Seedi, the university violates human rights by depriving students of one of their fundamental rights. At the same time, "forcing them to protest outside the university's premises in the cold and not allowing them inside is totally inhumane," said El-Seedi. Another parent stated during the conference that the age of oppression had ended by the toppling of Mubarak and his regime. However, remnants of this "dark aged regime is still present. Why is a Mubarak-era minister granted such a post at the university? El-Demeri is not only a member of the board of trustees, but a teaching staff member as well as head of several committees at the university. He should stay at home," said parent Mohamed Ahmed. AFTE representative Fatma Serag stated during the conference that students were not officially notified about the accusations made against them. "The university informed them via phone calls about the accusations and disciplinary board, however, they were not permitted to know the legal basis on which the disciplinary board based its accusations and meted out penalties," Serag said, maintaining that students only knew they would be subject to an investigation. The AFTE representative also pointed out that charges directed at them were too general and did not clarify which student was responsible for what. "The administration warned students and then expelled them one week later, which means they received two penalties for the same charge which is illegal," Serag stated. "The punishment is too much for the stated accusations," she added. Parents of expelled students met with Minister of Higher Education Hussein Khaled to reach a compromise with the university. Khaled promised anxious parents to refer the issue to a neutral legal committee to investigate the incident. "A few hours later the minister's office informed us that students must submit a formal petition in the form of an apology to the administration and that they will reduce the penalty by only two weeks suspension," said Othman, father of student Ziko. At the same time parents along with students refused that their children apologise for something they said they did not do. Ziko, the student, stated the administration had promised the expelled assistant lecturer to return immediately if he apologises for organising in the protests. Even though he apologised, the university did not meet its promise. Instead, it suspended him for three months. "If we did the same, the academic year will end in three months. This means that our future is on the line and we can't risk it," he added. Ziko added: "Suspended students Ahmed Hassan and Mustafa Eissa were suspended for two weeks although they did not attend the protest. Hassan was out of the country and Eissa was home. Due to this suspension Eissa was not able to discuss his graduation project. How can we trust a university which commits such violations?" wondered Ziko. Suspended and expelled students have filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court against the GUC decree. The first session was on 7 March. The university is adopting a low profile for the time being, still insisting on its stand. It stated in an official statement, "The motives behind all previous disciplinary actions have been purely educational and administrative and have nothing whatsoever to do with politics." GUC experienced a similar incident in March last year when students protested in support of a representative student union and a declaration of the university's bylaws. The university responded by suspending 26 students until their parents submitted a written apology.
