Post date: Nov 28, 2013 6:25:49 PM
University students in Alexandra clash with police during protests over severe prison sentences handed down to female protesters.
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (NOVEMBER 28, 2013)(REUTERS) - Egyptian police used tear gas to disperse a protest outside Alexandria's university on Thursday (November 28), where students were demonstrating against the severe prison sentences handed down to female protesters on Wednesday (November 27).
An Alexandria court jailed 14 women for 11 years for obstructing traffic during a protest by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi that took place late last month. Seven other women under the age of 18 were sent to a juvenile prison.Supporters of Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that backs him, marched fromAlexandria University to the nearby Alexandria Court Complex where Wednesday's judgment was handed down.
The protesters were also joined by some liberal student activists in a rare show of solidarity, amidst growing opposition in Egypt to a crackdown on protests by the country's interim government.
The government passed a law on Sunday (November 24) restricting demonstrations.
Riot police fired tear gas into the crowd with some students suffering from tear gas inhalation.
Thursday's protest followed scuffles between protesters and security forces in the northern port city on Wednesday during a demonstration against the new law and against the arrest of 24 activists including prominent pro-democracy campaigners Ahmed Maher and Alaa Abdel Fattah, the state news agency MENA said.
Rocks were thrown back and forth and security forces used tear gas to try and disperse the crowd, MENA reported.
One protester was killed in clashes between supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi and security forces at Cairo University on Thursday, medical sources said.
Mursi was ousted by the military in July, following mass protests against him. Since then, a harsh crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has killed over 1,000 protesters and led to the imprisonment of thousands.