No Arbitrary Student Dismissals

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

As part of the state’s systematic repression policy, supported by all its institutions and agencies, Abdullah Azmi, a student at Mansoura University’s Faculty of Engineering, has been arbitrarily dismissed for an entire academic semester. His dismissal was based on a Facebook post that was turned into a tool of incrimination by the faculty administration to justify its accusations against him.

This incident cannot be viewed in isolation from the broader collapse and disintegration of the state’s social and political system. The regime employs intense violence against various segments of society, particularly its most vulnerable groups. This is evident in the imposition of austerity policies on the vast majority of poor and middle-class Egyptians, forcing them to bear the cost of economic failure resulting from exploiting the capitalist system. It is also reflected in the regime’s repression of students—both physically, through campaigns of arrests, enforced disappearances, prolonged imprisonments, and all forms of state-organized terrorism to suppress revolutionary movements within Egyptian universities, and symbolically, through measures such as the annulment of the General Student Union elections. These elections were overturned because the union was formed by individuals outside the state-backed lists, marking a break from the regime’s dominance.

Suppressing independent student representation is a deliberate move to undermine the student struggle. It seeks to improve the conditions for revolutionary action, intensify its emancipatory discourse, and attract more students to the cause. The student movement serves as a crucial force in sustaining revolutionary momentum, especially in light of the decline and fragmentation of labor and mass movements due to the regime’s severe repression and systematic co-optation tactics.

In response, the Faculty of Engineering Student Union has issued a statement expressing its absolute rejection of these repressive policies, which are intentionally designed to restrict freedoms and suppress tools of expression—particularly social media, which has become a vital platform for exposing the regime’s oppressive practices and economic and political exploitation. This crackdown ultimately strengthens and spreads revolutionary discourse across diverse social groups.

The Student Union demands the following:

1. Commitment to providing the necessary legal representation if the case escalates to legal proceedings, including covering legal and administrative costs.
2. Continuous monitoring of disciplinary councils at the faculty, representing affected students, and exploring legal avenues to support them.
3. Taking all necessary escalatory measures to prevent future arbitrary decisions of this nature.
Revolutionary Socialist Students – Mansoura University