CAIRO // Egyptian security forces used tear gas and water cannons on Thursday to disperse students and supporters of the country’s ousted Islamist president as they rallied outside a Cairo university, sparking clashes that killed one person.
The clashes came as the country’s top security chief vowed to “confront with all decisiveness” those violating a new law criminalising protests not prior approved by police.
Supporters of toppled President Mohammed Morsi protested at Cairo University over a court verdict on Wednesday against a group of young female protesters.
The demonstrators later left the university’s campus and marched down a major street, sparking a confrontation with police.
At least one student was killed in the clashes, said a security official. Eight were injured by either tear gas inhalation or during clashes with security forces, health ministry official Khaled El Khatib said.
The protests came in defiance of a new law criminalising protests held without police permits. Authorities have been justifying tougher measures as needed to fight terrorism and bring stability. Violators face fines and prison terms.
Egypt has been gripped by near-daily demonstrations since Mr Morsi was removed from power on July 3 after unprecedented protests against his rule.
Yesterday, Interior Minister Gen Mohammed Ibrahim said security forces will “confront any violation and will face with all decisiveness any attempt to cut roads, block public facilities, hinder citizens’ movement or obstruct their interests.”
The new protest law sparked anger among liberals and youth groups, as well as allies of the military-backed interim government.
Yesterday’s clashes came a day after nearly two dozen Islamist women and girls, some as young as 15, were handed heavy prison sentences for protesting.
In an Alexandria courtroom, the 21 young female defendants flashed defiant smiles to the media, standing handcuffed in white head scarves and white prison uniforms in the defendants cage. They were convicted on charges related to holding an October 31 protest in the city demanding Mr Morsi’s reinstatement.
Among them were seven teenagers aged 15 and 16, who were sentenced to prison terms until they turn 18. The rest — most aged 18 to 22 — were sentenced to 11 years in prison. Six other Brotherhood members were sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting the demonstrations.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said the sentences are meant to be a “deterrent” for the group’s opposition to the military, vowing the verdict “will only increase the determination of the people to get their rights.”
In a separate case a Cairo court acquitted three former policemen yesterday on charges of torturing five Islamist militants who were in their custody during the rule of president Hosni Mubarak, judicial sources said.
The former officers were accused of giving electric shocks to the militants, depriving them of food and beating them during interrogation.
It is unclear whether the five militants are still in jail or have been freed since Mr Mubarak’s downfall in a popular uprising in January 2011.
*Associated Press
