Nile University Authorities released five students Tuesday morning that were arrested when security forces dispersed a sit-in at the Zewail City for Science and Technology (ZCST) on Monday, according to Nile University student Alaa Sami, who confirmed an earlier NU statement. Ahmed Khalil, who was arrested on Sunday for allegedly assaulting a ZCST professor, is the only student still being detained. He will appear in court on Tuesday to hear whether his detention will be extended. In response to criticism regarding the level of force used to disperse the sit-in, Ahmed Zewail said: "Personally I did not intervene in the decision... The prosecuto-general ruled in favour of the ZCST and called for the dispersal of the sit-in. We waited for this decision for several weeks without doing anything to remove the students. Throughout the sit-in I recommended not using force against the students." NU students had been protesting outside the ZCST campus since 28 August after they were forbidden from accessing their labs and classrooms when the government assigned all NU land to the Zewail City for Science and Technology (ZCST) in 2011. The authorities consequently moved the NU to a temporary venue in Smart Village, on the Cairo-Alexandria road, west of the capital.
