Tens of university professors held a protest at Cairo University Tuesday against referring their colleagues to a disciplinary board and calling for the release of all detained professors, according to Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

The protest was organised by a movement calling for "the independence of universities," called "Independent University." Two disciplinary boards initially scheduled for Tuesday to question professors Ahmed Abdel-Basit Mohamed and Seif Abdel-Fattah were postponed.

The professors were accused of instigating violence inside the university.

According to Abdel-Basit Mohamed's Facebook page, he was referred to a disciplinary board by the university's President Gaber Nassar, for "organising some protests calling for the release of their detained colleagues and for banning security from entering the university, and disrespecting the independence of universities."

Protesters chanted, "We will not leave you, our colleagues, until we win the case," and raised signs which read "Save Egypt's scientists" and "we refuse referring professors to investigation for their political opinions," Al-Ahram reported.

Laila Soueif, a university professor, human rights activist and a member of the "9 March movement for the independence of universities" said that the questioning that some professors are facing does not have legal grounds.

She denounced a "disciplinary hearing for the professors, based on delusory complaints from anonymous people," reported Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Abdel-Basit Mohamed is the media spokesperson for "universities against coup" front and is a member of the administration board of the teaching council. Abdel-Fattah is a political science professor at the university.