The release of three U.S. students arrested during a protest in Egypt has been ordered, but it is currently stalled in a bureaucratic quagmire that has kept them in police custody for the time being.
A court in Egypt ordered the release of the students, a lawyer in Philadelphia confirmed Thursday (Nov. 24, 2011), according to the Associated Press.
The three U.S. students attend the American University in Cairo and were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo’s Tahrir Square last Sunday. During the past week they have been accused of throwing firebombs at security forces.
“As we work to independently confirm reports regarding the potential release of three U.S. citizens detained in Egypt, we remain in contact with them and their families, providing appropriate consular assistance. We appreciate the ongoing expeditious consideration of this case by the Egyptian authorities,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday.
The three were visited by consular officials on Wednesday.
A court in Egypt ordered the release of the students, a lawyer in Philadelphia confirmed Thursday (Nov. 24, 2011), according to the Associated Press.
But Derrik Sweeney, Luke Gates and Gregory Porter are still being processed, one day after a court ordered them freed.
“According to the latest information that the Egyptians gave out, they were ordered released in the court, but they are in an administrative out-processing stage,” a representative of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo said, the wire service reported.The three U.S. students attend the American University in Cairo and were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo’s Tahrir Square last Sunday. During the past week they have been accused of throwing firebombs at security forces.
“As we work to independently confirm reports regarding the potential release of three U.S. citizens detained in Egypt, we remain in contact with them and their families, providing appropriate consular assistance. We appreciate the ongoing expeditious consideration of this case by the Egyptian authorities,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday.
The three were visited by consular officials on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69098.html#ixzz1eja5Dabd
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