University expels seven released Darfuri students

Seven students from the University of El Zaeem El Azhari in Khartoum state have been expelled, including the head of the Darfur Students Association and its secretary-general.

The university in Khartoum North issued the decision on Monday after a sit-in was staged by the students last week, in which they demanded the university administration exempt them from paying tuition fees.

El Tayeb Ahmed Adam, the secretary-general of the students association, told Radio Dabanga that 42 Darfuri students appeared before a committee formed by the dean to investigate the student protest Sunday.

At the beginning of the academic year the university administration committed to exempt Darfuri students from tuition fees, but issued a statement a month ago reversing the decision and that obliging students to pay. This prompted the Darfuri students to enter into an open-ended sit-in on Sunday and Monday. Initially ten Darfuri students were detained by the Sudanese security service (NISS). Five were released at midnight on Monday; the other five students were released after being charged with causing a riot at the university.

The students who have been expelled from El Zaeem El Azhari University are Muawia Ahmed Mohamed, the head of the association and in the fourth level of the Faculty of Agriculture, El Taher Tijani, Abdelsamee Yagoub, Hamza Mekki El Haj, Mujahid Adam Mohamed, Elaf Abubakar Mohamed, and El Tayeb Ahmed Adam.