Three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo and ordered released by an Egyptian court are in the midst of being processed by authorities there, a U. S. Embassy spokeswoman said today.
Katharina Gollner-Sweet, a spokeswoman for the U. S. Embassy in Cairo, told The Associated Press that Derrik Sweeney, Luke Gates and Gregory Porter are being processed for their eventual release one day after a court ordered them released from police custody, according to information from Egyptian officials.
“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,” Gollner-Sweet said.
“We are continuing to provide normal consular situations. I don’t know exactly where they are.”
The three U.S. college students, who attend the American University in Cairo, were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square on Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.
A court in Egypt ordered the release of the students, a lawyer in Philadelphia confirmed Thursday.
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