The sit-in of Media faculty students continues demanding the resignation of the dean of the faculty. “Association of freedom of thought and expression” condemns the Cairo University’s authority for its attempt to break up the sit-in.

“Association of freedom of thought and expression” expresses its utmost condemnation of the undemocratic attitude of Faculty of Mass Media in Cairo University towards the students’ protests that took place in the beginning of the second semester, through demonstrations, and sit-ins, and turned into a hunger strike.

Since the first day of the second semester, the protests in the Faculty of Media, have begun, demanding the resignation of the Dean, Dr. “Sami Abdel-Aziz”, and the students decided to start a sit-in within the University campus, inspiring the model of peaceful-Tahrir Square’s sit-in, where they would continue their protest until the realization of their demands.

A week after the beginning of the sit-in, a meeting was held by the students, the dean, and academic faculty members to discuss the demands of the students. The meeting has ended by scuffles between the students and faculty members on one side and the workers of the administration on the other side, who has assaulted one of the students. Two different groups of the faculty members have issued two statements; one has shown solidarity with the students and the other one supported the Dean.

During the following days, the administration propagated offending allegations against the students accusing them of being on drugs and committing acts breach the public morals in the protest camps.

A student has been threatened by a knife and beaten when he refused to be paid a ten thousand pounds to help the administration to break up the sit –in, as a result, the ceiling of the students’ demands went up and five of them started a hunger strike and registered their act in Giza police station, the report No. 1692/2010, in the presence of the ATEF’s lawyer.

The faculty’s administration ignored completely the students’ protest and demands, and continued to oppress the students preventing other students from joining their sit-in. A tutor who supports the dean claimed that he will commit suicide if they do not put an end to their protest.

Concerning all these incidents, AFTE strongly condemns all these oppressive actions taken by the administration of the Mass Media Faculty in Cairo University to deprive the students from their rights to protest and its constant attempts to end their protest in a violent way.

The association asserts the right of students of the Faculty of Mass Media to exercise all their political rights in a peaceful way, within the university campus, to grant the right atmosphere to create a cadre of information to be able to communicate with people, not just trumpet horns for the regime, so as to ensure a favorable atmosphere to freedom, and to facilitate the flow of information.