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Students wounded at King Khaled University protest in Saudi Arabia

This is the stable version, checked on 16 March 2012. Template changes await review.

Friday, March 9, 2012

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Dozens of female students were injured on Wednesday after police and security forces stormed a demonstration at Abha's King Khaled University. Up to 1,000 students were protesting alleged corruption, discrimination, and failure to remove rubbish at two female campuses.

The protests were in the city of Abha.
Image: Fayez Salman.

University officials said law enforcement moved in after students attacked staff, and said intimidation by a guardian was behind the failure to clean rubbish. Awad Al-Qarni, the uni's head of PR, said students "saying their demands were not fulfilled" attacked staff on Tuesday. The next morning, he said, the administration offered dialogue to protestors but began using fire hoses and extinguishers on them when they "started destroying university property".

Students have said cleaning was never done properly. Reports suggest a crush of people injured some, with one report claiming a woman died in hospital after having a seizure, and another miscarried.

As well as police and security forces, the Department of Health, the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia), and the Red Crescent were on the scene. An Asir Department of Health spokesperson said twenty-two casualties were distributed between, at least, Asir Central, Ahad Rafidah General, Abha General, and Khamis Mushayt General hospitals, and military hospital, with 31 more treated on-site. Haia sent 50 commissioners and area spokesman Awad Al-Asmari denied they had injured anyone, saying they provided assistance to the protestors. "On the other hand," he said, "the Haia presence created a sense of peace and security in the girls".

Faculty members and administrative officials treat us badly

—Student

One student said there were not enough chairs in lecture theaters, and that the administration ignored students; another said she "[doesn't] go to classes often because of the poor conditions in the university. Faculty members and administrative officials treat us badly." She described having "to walk on mounds of garbage that have accumulated close to the cafeteria". A parent said water taps did not work. All wished to remain anonymous or went only by their initials.

It is reported thirty professors have stepped down, with a protest demanding the president's resignation scheduled for tomorrow.


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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
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