CAIRO: The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) described on Sunday the car-ramming of a student protest by a university dean in the Delta city of Mansoura as a "criminal act ", adding that "nothing justifies it.” On Saturday, a government vehicle carrying the dean of Mansoura University's veterinary school, Said Al-Shirbini, tried to break-up a student protest by driving into it, injuring 15 people. Al-Shirbini was on his way to vote at the university president elections when a group of students tried to prevent him, asking him to resign. The AFTE said that "this use of violence with student protesters is not the first of its kind" recalling an incident in Qena when students accused the dean of the Faculty of Engineering of inciting his employees to use violence against students calling for his resignation. Recounting the deadly attack on protesters in Maspero last Sunday, the association said that it was no surprise that a university dean used his vehicle to disperse protesters, since the “leaders of the country” have done the same. The group referred to shocking video footage of military police driving over protesters using their armed personnel carriers The group demanded an immediate investigation into "the tragic incident", underlining "the students' right to protest peacefully.” For more than 50 years, presidents of public universities in Egypt have been directly appointed by the head of state, a practice no longer tolerated by the students after the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February. Days after the start of the academic year in September, students and faculty members organized mass demonstrations to replace university leaders appointed by the old regime through elections.
