Egyptian authorities release eight Russian students
11:56, 1 June 2009
CAIRO. June 1. KAZINFORM. Eight students from Russia, who had been arrested here on Wednesday, were released by Egyptian law enforcement agencies on Saturday, an official at the consular department of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Arab Republic of Egypt (ARE) has told Itar-Tass; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
On May 27, at about one a.m., Egyptian special services had cordoned off the area of the compact living of Russians who study at Al-Azhar University, in the city's Madinat-Nasr Quarter. The ARE security personnel forced their way into the students' apartments without prresenting any documents or any sanction. In all, 34 Russian students were detained. It is known that there were three women, who had small children, including one baby, among the detained.
Four students were released shortly after that. Egyptian security forces still hold 22 Russians in detention.
Arrested together with them were also the citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, students from France, Britain, and Denmark. Three Tajik students and five Kazakh ones were released later on; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.