The court, in a suit brought by professors at Cairo University,
determined that the police presence on campus violated the Egyptian
constitution as well as academic freedom. Egypt has 18 state-owned
universities.
"No restrictions whatsoever may be placed on a university's exercise of
its activities as this undermines the university's independence," the court
said.
Abdul Gelil, head of the pro-democracy Kefaya opposition movement, said
police have stopped or influenced student elections. He said police have
also intervened to block appointments of professors and other academic
staffers.
"The police on campus have been one of the key reasons for the decline
in standards of Egyptian universities," Abdul Gelil said.
Opposition sources said they expected the Mubarak regime to ignore the
Egyptian court ruling. They said most dissident cases have ended up being
tried in security courts, which do not follow standard rules of evidence.
So far, the government has appealed the ruling. The Higher Education
Ministry has argued that police were preventing violence and a takeover by
Islamists, particularly those from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood