CAIRO: Moatz Shawki had his life in order and was on the right path. He had won a staff fellowship at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in computer science and was preparing to begin his Master's studies in the fall. All that changed for the award-winning 25-year-old software designer on July 11, when he was physically removed from the AUC campus by four security personnel, being informed he had been fired by the university. Shawki, who said he dreamed of one day winning a Nobel Prize, had entered into a one-man after working hours strike on July 7 after he had sent an email to university President Lisa Anderson asking her for an explanation for why there were Egyptian snipers on top of the campus' roof during the January 25 revolution in Egypt, and why he had been transferred from his post as a software engineer to the business school after initial inquiries into the sniper issue. “They threw me in a car, took my mobile and I hurt my leg,” he told Bikyamasr.com. “It was like I was a piece of garbage.” Before being forced out of the campus, he was taken to the human resources department, where he says the manager on duty attempted to have him sign a termination of employment document dated to July 7, four days earlier. “I kept saying I was unhappy being in a department that I didn't know anything about and had sent many emails,” the young man said. The software engineer has since filed a lawsuit and police report against AUC and President Anderson over his illegal firing and the alleged fraudulent attempt by the HR department to force him to sign his dismissal papers dated before the incident on July 11. Shawki's debacle with AUC began shortly after the 18 days of protests ended and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had been ousted. He had pushed for the university to explain in detail why their downtown campus had been used as an outpost for snipers during the uprising. AUC's Anderson told Bikyamasr.com in an email that “we addressed this issue several times during the spring, when it was first reported, and it is a matter of public record. The snipers were NOT authorized. “We turned over all evidence, including mobile phone videos that were provided to us, to the Public Prosecutor's Office in March and have cooperated fully in their investigation,” she added. Shawki, who won second place in the Made in Arab (MIA) competition for developing a new algorithm for accuracy enhancement, wasn't convinced by AUC's statements on the snipers and pushed for more details on the situation, which has seen mobile videos and Youtube videos emerge showing what appear to be snipers on AUC's downtown Cairo campus during the uprising. AUC's new campus. Anderson, however, denied any connection between Shawki and the sniper ordeal. “This is the first I have heard about any alleged connection between Mr. Moatz Shawki and the incident in January which government snipers were placed on the rooftops of several buildings around Tahrir Square, including at AUC,” she said. But Shawki had already filed a police report with the New Cairo general prosecutor on March 20 against AUC for allowing the snipers on campus, in contradiction to Anderson's statement of not being aware of Shawki and the snipers. He also sent an email two days later concerning the matter to a fact-finding committee that was investigating the snipers on the campus. Activists present in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the uprising have repeatedly confirmed the use of snipers on AUC premises against protesters. The university, according to Shawki, was not pleased about his repeated attempts to push the issue and transferred him to the business school, despite the fact he had won a fellowship for computer science. When, after months of attempts to be returned to the department where he was to start his studies in the fall, he felt no progress was being made, Shawki informed the university that he would begin a one-person strike after working hours in protest of the actions taken against him. The university, he said, threatened to fire him if he entered the strike. That was July 7. “President Anderson and others talked a lot about freedom of speech and the right to strike, so it was odd that they threatened to fire me over a strike that was not going to affect anything at the school. It was after work was finished,” he said. Since the January revolution, security workers at AUC have protested and entered into public strikes in demanding better wages, but Shawki appears to have not been afforded the same rights and AUC would not give any explanation over his firing and treatment. The 25-year-old said that for four days, he went to his office, completed his work as assigned to him and then went to the roof to conduct his sit-in. After being threatened with being fired, he emailed President Anderson and scores of AUC staff on July 10, asking for an explanation for his treatment by the university. “Kindly I repeat how much I respect you as a person and I feel you are a very special person, still professionally I need your comments about the following points,” he began the email, which he passed to bikyamasr.com. Among the points he asks for clarification is the justification for transferring him to a different department, why AUC “neglects Egyptian laws,” freedom of speech and the right to strike. “I would sleep at night on the roof in protest,” he said. But on the morning of July 11, he went to his office and was met by security guards, who physically carried him to the HR department where the alleged fraud attempt took place. Upon being thrown into a car outside the campus, Shawki went to the New Cairo Police Station and filed a report, no. 1517, against the university and President Anderson. A student who witnessed the incident snapped a photograph of Shawki being carried down the stairs on his expulsion from the campus and for the young man, it reminded him of how police often treated activists in the country. “They used force and violence against me even though I said I would leave on my own,” he said. The situation has shown the dark side of the American University in Cairo, but when bikyamasr.com pressed President Anderson over the treatment of one of its former employees, she refused to answer, saying simply, “we do not comment on confidential personnel matters.” Shawki's situation is no longer a confidential matter, as police reports have been filed against the university and Anderson, including demands to have her expelled from Egypt over the incident and the snipers. A prosecutor is currently investigating the matter and would not discuss an ongoing case with Bikyamasr.com. Other students are now taking up the cause started by Shawki against Anderson, with a planned demonstration gaining steam on Facebook for September 11. Titled “Strike against President Lisa Anderson,” some 140 people have confirmed attending in continued action against the university's president. Now, the young man who had won a prestigious fellowship that would likely have pushed open numerous doors doesn't know what to do. He admitted that his experience has questioned a lot of his previous belief in the university and American values. “They talk about freedom and justice and this is how they treat me? I don't think President Anderson is a good representative of America,” he said. Now, the 25-year-old is unemployed and his future is uncertain. “I have no idea what I am going to do. I guess try to find a job.” For him, a future that had been hard-earned has now turned on its head. He says there are so few opportunities in Egypt for software designers that the AUC situation has left him depressed and worried. “When I think of what I have earned in my life and how I did it all on my own, it is so frustrating to think I could be treated this way. I was going to travel and get a good job after my studies, but now, I have to wait,” he added. BM
