Egyptian Students to Face One year in Prison If Disrespected Salutation of Flag: Media Reports

Egypt’s Minister of Education Tarek Shawky has recently released an order for school students to respect the Egyptian flag or they might risk a jail time, according to media reports.

Students who mock the Egyptian flag might face jail terms of up to one year or could be fined up to EGP 30,000, the Guardian said.

The new decision did not specify the act of disrespecting the flag salutation.

A guide for academic institutions’ rules and regulations was released by the Ministry of Education stipulating that both students and teachers should adhere to saluting the flag during the morning queue to enhance the nationalistic sentiments, according to the privately-owned Youm 7.

Egyptian Streets tried to speak to the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Education Ahmed Kahiry to get further comments of the order, but no response.

A similar order was previously taken by former interim president Adly Mansour in 2014. However, Shawky is imposing the new decision on school students in particular.

Earlier this month, several university students mocked a new decision by Higher Education Ministry stipulating that they should salute the Egyptian flag on the first day of university. Saluting the flag had always been limited to school students.

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