The group are all members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned opposition group in Egypt. Early this month they were involved in a peaceful sit-in to protest the physical molestation and beating of a female student by Al-Azhar University security guards in Zagazig. She would later suffer from internal bleeding.

The seven students have since been arrested, and are currently in police custody in Zagazig.

The Zagazig prosecutor has accused them of attacking state officials while on duty. And although an investigation into their arrests is not yet complete, there has been no response to the defense's request to hear witnesses who deny the attacks ever took place.

"Student rights and freedoms are an integral part of human rights as a whole," said Alkarama's Legal Director, Rachid Mesli "the students' detention and trial fails to meet even the most basic standards of justice; all the while, the state employees responsible have escaped any and all forms of prosecution."

These arrests come only days after the beginning of the Al-Azhar student union elections. The Egyptian authorities target dissident students groups in order to silence them and prevent them from practicing their constitutional rights by being elected to the student body.

Alkarama calls on the Egyptian authorities to investigate the case of the seven students, who have been charged under unfair circumstances. Their arrests represent a critical blow to both public and political life in Egypt.

The students being brought before the magistrate's court are:

1. Ahmed Abdelwahid (4th year - Jurisprudence - Abu Kabir)
2. Islam Gamal Abdelbadie (2nd year - Jurisprudence - Zagazig)
3. Islam Abdelghaffar El Morri (3rd year - Jurisprudence - Minya El Qameh)
4. Osama Ahmed Suwailim (2nd year - Jurisprudence - El Hosseinia)
5. Abdallah Mohammed Said (2nd year - Jurisprudence - Abu Hammad)
6. Mahmoud Mohammed El Attar (4th year - Arabic - Deirab Nagm)
7. Mahmoud Ibrahim El Awail (4th year - Jurisprudence - Zafti)