Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

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Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website 

On February 11, 2007, a number of human rights organizations expressed their complete rejection to referring Khairat Al Shater and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders to the military courts and considered this as a serious violation to the right of having a fair trial which is guaranteed by the constitution and international human rights covenants.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and the Arab Center for Democracy and Human Rights demanded in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Ikhwanweb, that Al Shater and other MB leaders appear before a civil court, and repeal emergency laws .

The statement pointed out that the military courts violate many guarantees which are necessary for having a fair trial like: violating the defendant"s right to prepare his defense, violating the defense right in knowing the case files and meeting clients privately, and not taking into consideration torturing the defendants; add to this that the military courts are exceptional courts for civilians, because their rulings can"t be challenged in front of any other court, and their rulings aren"t supervised by any higher Court to observes the right application of law; these rulings are only ratified by the president who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces or any authorized military officer.

The statement demanded also repealing the state of emergency which is imposed since 1981, according to which are violated the rights and public freedoms guaranteed by the constitution and international human rights covenants, and specially the right to appear before a fair trial. The statement demands also including the various political powers in the fabric of the Egyptian society and allowing them to participate in the political process, and allowing political powers to form parties regardless of their intellectual affiliations and allowing them to have a space in the political landscape.

These were the names of MB Leaders referred to Military courts on Friday, February 09, 2007:

Cairo public prison administration informed 32 Muslim Brotherhood detainees that their cases have been referred to a military tribunal, according to president Mubarak"s decree of ordering 40 Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders to appear before a military court for the first time of such a measure in about six years .

Lawyer Mostafa Al Demeiri said that the MB detainees told the defense panel that they were officially informed that a military court will investigate into and hear their case no. 963 high state security which known as Al-Azhar students case. He said that the defense panel is waiting for the military court"s delegate to receive the files of investigation with the detainees from the Higher State Security Prosecution in order to set a quick session to hear the case.

Al Demeiri confirmed that the charges against the detainees are still the same: money laundering and using terrorist means to achieve the targets of a currently outlawed group. He pointed out that the rulings of the military justice are final and can"t be challenged or appealed; the defendants in such a military court can only seek amnesty of the president, as he is the military governor, to release him or reduce the sentence.

Eight Muslim Brotherhood members are scheduled to be tried in absentia in front of the military tribunal because five of them are living abroad:

The other 32 MB detainees will be tried in person before the military tribunal:

In simultaneous predawn raids, Egyptian police on Thursday arrested 17 senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood and rounded up at least 140 students on suspicion of being linked to this banned nonviolent organization following a protest at Cairo’s al-Azhar University, Human Rights Watch said today. The Egyptian authorities have arrested at least 1,000 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in a crackdown that began in March. Though most of these detainees are now released, representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood told Human Rights Watch they expect further detentions in the days to come. Members detained on Thursday include Khairat al-Shatir, the 2^{nd deputy Chairman and chief strategist of the organization.}

 
Human Rights Watch called on the Egyptian government to immediately release, or charge, all members of the Muslim Brotherhood imprisoned in this months-long campaign, as well as students arrested for their suspected links to the group.  
 
“Once again, the government is detaining members of a peaceful group whose only crime is pressing for reform,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa director. “Now the Egyptian authorities are targeting students who are calling for reforms.”

 
The arrests follow a demonstration by the Free Student Union, a group comprised mostly of students affiliated with the Brotherhood formed in November 2005 to protest alleged government interference in student union elections. On December 10, the students held a sit-in at an apartment building where they have been living since al-Azhar administrators expelled them from dormitories for their political activities. Roughly 35 of them, who wore balaclavas with “samidoon” (“the steadfast”) written across them, gave a brief martial arts demonstration and performed military-style exercises. On December 14, police surrounded the dormitory and arrested at least 140 students there, although it is not clear if all participated in the demonstration. Police have not released the names of the detained students.

 
Photos from the demonstration raised alarm in the press that the Muslim Brotherhood was forming a militia, and police said they were opening an investigation to determine whether this was true. Senior members of the group quickly distanced themselves from the students’ actions, stressing that their organization is peaceful, does not maintain a militia, and that Brotherhood members who participated might face disciplinary action. Mahmud `Izzat, secretary general of the banned organization, told Human Rights Watch that some of the men detained on Thursday morning had personally chastised the students for their actions.

 
 
“We apologize for this skit,” the Free Student Union said in a statement released Wednesday. “This is not our way. It reflected poorly on our school and ourselves by making us look like a militia. This image is absolutely untrue. We are students. We did this skit because we felt that no one was listening … to our requests for justice in the university…. The university administration, in cooperation with the security apparatus, has denied us our rights to participate in student union elections.”  
 
“These arrests are merely a part of the government’s continuing campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Whitson. “If there is evidence that anyone detained has committed an offence beyond belonging to the Brotherhood, the government should bring charges before an independent court and produce the evidence. If not, the authorities must release the detainees immediately.”

 
The most recent arrests took place within a months-long government crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood. Most recently, according to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Web site, State Security officers in late November detained 21 members of the organization in the Munufiyya governorate, northwest of Cairo. One student caught in this crackdown told Human Rights Watch that police had tortured him with electrical currents, kept him blindfolded while he was in custody, and tried to force him to incriminate himself. He spoke on condition of anonymity, saying that he feared for his family.

 
Article 86(bis) of Egypt’s Penal Code criminalizes membership in an organization that “impairs the national unity or social peace.” Such broad definitions invite abuse. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Egypt has undertaken to uphold the right to freedom of association. Article 22 of the covenant specifies that the only permissible exceptions to this right are those “which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights of others.” These exceptions are narrowly framed, and the burden of demonstrating their needs in specific cases rests with the state. The state cannot justify the banning of an organization unless it can show that this extreme measure is necessary to achieve a specific and legitimate purpose within one of the enumerated exceptions.  
 
The Egyptian government has never convincingly justified its continued categorization of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has renounced violence since the 1970s, as an illegal organization. Human Rights Watch called on the categorization to be revoked, and for the authorities to discontinue using its illegality as the pretext for arresting its members.

List of prominent Muslim Brotherhood members arrested on December 14:  
 
1. Khairat al-Shatir, second deputy to the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood  
2. Mahmud Abu Zaid, professor of surgery at al-Qasr al-`Aini Medical Faculty, Cairo University  
3. Muhammad Baligh, professor at the Conjunctivitis Institute in Giza  
4. Ayman `Abd al-Ghani, engineer  
5. Ahmad `Izz al-Din, journalist, press consultant of the MB Chairman
6. Mustafa Salim, accountant  
7. Mamduh al-Husaini, engineer  
8. Yasir `Abdu, secretary general for the Giza Syndicate of Commercial Professions.  
9. `Isam `Abd al-Muhsin, professor of biochemistry at al-Azhar Medical College and head of the Giza Medical Syndicate  
10. Farid Jalbat, professor in the Shari`a and Law College at al-Azhar University  
11. Sadiq al-Sharqawi, businessman  
12. Mahmud Mursi, engineer  
13. Fathi Baghdadi, director of al-Masa`i schools  
14. Sayyid Ma`ruf, manager at `Umar Affandi Co.  
15. Salah al-Dusuqi, assistant professor of anatomy at al-Azhar Medical College.  
16. Jamal Sha`ban, accountant  
17. Sahib Shawkat al-Malt, secretary-general of the Free Students" Union at al-Azhar University.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, including the group’s number three, to stand trial before a military court, officials said yesterday.

“The president of the republic has ordered that leading Muslim Brotherhood member Khayrat Al Shater and others be tried before a military court,” the source said, without specifying how many co-defendants faced trial.

Shater, the movement’s main financier, is part of a group of 29 Brotherhood members whose assets were frozen by the state last month on charges of money-laundering and financing illegal activities.

“It is a cruel decision and it is a political one,” the Brotherhood’s deputy supreme guide Mohammed Habib said.

“This type of exceptional decision gives Arab and foreign investors a sense that there is a lack of stability in Egypt. This will reflect negatively on development in Egypt,” he said.

Shater was arrested in December in the latest government crackdown on Egypt’s largest opposition bloc, following a university demonstration in which masked pro-Brotherhood students held a military-style parade on the campus of Al Azhar University.

Brotherhood lawyers say that 165 members of the group have been detained over the Al Azhar incident, including 31 senior members.

Egyptian authorities accuse the movement, which controls a fifth of the seats in parliament, of seeking to revive its underground military wing and eventually topple the regime.

The step was Egypt’s most serious attempt to stop the Brotherhood from advancing further in mainstream politics.

The country’s strongest opposition group operates openly despite being officially banned.

The Brotherhood won nearly one-fifth of seats in the lower house of the parliament in 2005, its members running as independents to bypass the 53-year-old ban on the group.

Political analysts have said authorities capitalized on Al-Azhar protest to intensify a crackdown on the group.

Some also point to comments by President Hosni Mubarak that the group poses a threat to Egypt’s security as an indication the government was preparing for a wider assault.

Ahmed Seif Al-Islam Hamad, a constitutional lawyer, told Reuters that under emergency law only President Hosni Mubarak could order a civilian to stand trial before a military tribunal.

More than 270 Brotherhood members have been jailed in the crackdown. The group’s finances have also been targeted, with authorities detaining key financiers including Shatir, freezing assets and raiding businesses.

Last week a Cairo court ordered Shatir and 15 other Islamists released, ruling there were insufficient grounds to keep him in custody while an investigation into money-laundering charges continued.

But that court ruling was never implemented. Prosecutors instead ordered Shatir to be kept in jail under emergency laws that allow police to detain suspects without charge.

The emergency laws, in place since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, also allow the government to try civilians before military tribunals.

Rights groups and opposition figures say the government uses such laws to settle political scores and stifle freedom

On January 2007, Zahraa Khayrat Al Shater appealed to human rights organizations to demand the release of her father and her husband who are currently detained under inhumane detention conditions.

 
Zahraa Khayrat Al Shater- the daughter of Eng. Khayrat Al Shater and wife of Eng. Ayman Abdul-Ghany who were detained during a pre-Adha Feast crackdown last December 2006- that the health of Eng. Khayrat Al Shater is seriously deteriorating;
It is worth mentioning that El Shater is suffering of uncontrolled Diabetes (high blood sugar), and high blood pressure, in addition to chronic Bronchial Asthma, thyroid gland disorder, and coronary artery disease (poor blood flow to the heart muscle); he is health is increasingly deteriorating due to holding him in a prison that lacks inadequate ventilation inside his cell which is closed all the time and the air is polluted by cigarette and drug smoking from many criminal prisoners he is confined with, although he is a Political prisoner who should receive a better treatment.
His ill health was obvious in her latest visit to her father- the deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest opposition group in Egypt- because Al-Shater has been coughing continuously and was suffering from a bronchitis due to the prison"s polluted air which is full of smoke.

Zahraa Al Shater added in a statement to Ikhwanweb that:" My father was, prior to his arrest, scheduled to have a cardiac catheterization to examine the condition of his heart"s circulation".

 
Zahraa said " The prison administration gave access to medicine for Al-Shater; there is no problem with this administration; the key obstacle is with the State Security Police service that has the final say over detaining politicians without any legal basis; this service was and is still dealing with us toughly; it still bans sending personal blankets to Eng. Al-Shater and other Muslim Brotherhood detainees and gives them the prison"s very bad blankets which aren"t enough or appropriate for political detainees including doctors, engineers and university professors who did not commit any crime; the state security service prevented also sending mattresses to sleep on despite the very low temperatures and the very high humidity, given that criminal prisoners were given blankets and mattresses from relatives without any problem".
 
 Regarding the visit, Zahraa Al Shater said:" We were denied Al-Adha Feast visit; a state security officer told the wife of a detainees that the State Security Police service issued a decision of banning visiting Muslim Brotherhood detainees during the feast; however, we are visiting him regularly every week although we so suffer much during the visit because we wait for more than 3 hours to see him for only half an hour ( the period of the visit!!!), an insufficient period for me to be assured about my father, Eng. Khayrat, and my husband, Eng. Ayman; this visit takes place amid a heavy security and also among the visits of the criminal prisoners; we repeatedly demanded separating our visits from those of the criminal prisoners" so that our children do not see inappropriate scenes".

 
Zahraa Al Shater wondered in pain and anguish and  said:" Is this the real status quo of the human rights in Egypt nowadays: that our utmost demand- we the families and relatives of the political detainees- is that our parents, husbands and children, receive a better humane treatment in prison!!!!!; is this the fate of every intellectual or politician who stages a peaceful and civilized opposition to the regime, while we see bank robbers, drug dealers and dirty people enjoy full freedom and prosperity".
 Zahraa Al Shater demanded releasing her father, Eng. Khayrat Al Shater because there is not real charge against him; his only charge is that he is a politician.

 Also, Zahraa Al Shater called on the civil society institutions and human rights organizations to immediately exercise pressures for releasing, or even putting under house arrest, Eng. Khayrat Al Shater, to avoid the increasing deterioration in his health and to allow him to have the required medical examinations.

"Re-arresting these men moments after their acquittal shows a complete contempt for the rule of law and shocking disrespect for the court" "This escalation in the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has worrying implications for anyone who peacefully campaigns for change." said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch on February 15, 2007.

The fierce security campaign that the Egyptian regime is launching against the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group and transferring 40 MB leaders to military tribunals in addition to arresting hundreds of intermediate leaders on fabricated cases, all these actions spurred a big number of Internet activists to fight such an unfair campaign and expose the exercises of the tyrant military rule towards the life of the Egyptians

http://ensaa.blogspot.com/
"A meeting for those opposing transferring respected and reputed Egyptian civilians to a military court" according to the Muslim Brotherhood activist Ahmed Abdul Hafez about his weblog in which he posts full profiles of the reformist figures whom the Egyptian regime has transferred to the military justice. Ahmed doesn"t consider it a private weblog; he says that every one is responsible for updating this weblog and he receives the contributions of every one on the weblog"s Email.
 

http://elfagreya.blogspot.com/index.html
Asmaa who writes this weblog is the daughter of Yasser Abdou, a board member of the Syndicate of Commercial Professions, and one of those referred of the military court; she felt annoyed by the state security midnight sweeps "dawn visitors" and she decided to describe to readers of its weblog scenes of arresting her father and his life in Tora prison.

 
Khairat Al Shater Children:

http://www.khirat-elshater.blogspot.com/
This weblog is written by children of Eng. Khairat Al Shater. They want through it to spread the views of their father whom the judiciary acquitted and ordered him immediately released while the Egyptian regime gave a deaf ear as usual to the court ruling and issued another arrest warrant against him and transferred him to a military tribunal. Al Shater"s children decided to fight the campaign of distortion against their father through talking about him, his projects and his reformist role in the social and economic fields in Egypt .

http://www.freebeshr.com/
This weblog belongs to Hani Mohamed Beshr who announced launching an international campaign for demanding an immediate release of his father, the engineering scientist.

http://river-nile.blogspot.com/
An English language weblog that shows the Western readers a bird"s eye view of the Egyptian regime"s ongoing repression of freedoms.

 
The activists and families of prisoners of conscience have made use of weblogging as a new space for the expression of speech and to give vent to their feelings towards the current oppression of the Egyptian regime and to spread the issue of freedom on the cyberspace. The status quo in our country Egypt requires other activists to adopt a campaign for defending the civilians who have been referred to a military tribunal which doesn"t have any guarantee of a fair trial and whose rulings aren"t challenged. We call on freemen to defend Egypt and rescue it from the corrupt regime whose only concern is securing its powers even if this comes on the ruins of the Egyptian people. This is a call for releasing Egypt .

Egypt should release the hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch has collected the names of 226 members of the banned, nonviolent organization, Egypt"s largest opposition group, currently held by Egyptian authorities.

On January 29, a Cairo criminal court judge dismissed all charges against al-Shatir and his co-defendants and ordered their immediate release.

The judge in his ruling specifically called on the government to respect his decision.

The government ignored the judge"s order. Moments after their acquittal, al-Shatir and 15 other senior members were re-arrested by the police.

On February 6, President Hosni Mubarak, acting in his capacity as commander of the military, transferred their cases and those of 24 other Muslim Brotherhood members to a military tribunal.

"This escalation in the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has worrying implications for anyone who peacefully campaigns for change."

Egypt"s Emergency Law, in place without interruption since 1981, authorizes the president to refer civilians to military trials.

In 1995, in advance of parliamentary elections in that year, the government arrested many senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood and referred their cases to military court, which convicted them of nonviolent offenses and sentenced them to prison terms of up to five years.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Egypt must ensure that persons charged with criminal offenses have the right to a fair trial.

Article 14 of the ICCPR requires "a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law," and the right to review of any conviction and sentence by a higher tribunal.

The Human Rights Committee ? the body authorized to monitor compliance with the ICCPR, which Egypt ratified in 1982 ? has stated that the trial of civilians by military courts should be very exceptional and occur only under conditions that genuinely afford full due process.

In Egypt, military courts" judgments are final and cannot be appealed to a higher court or tribunal, denying defendants full due-process rights.

"Al-Shatir and the other Muslim Brotherhood members should never have been arrested in the first place," Whitson said.

"Now that an independent court has said as much, the government is resorting to a military tribunal to deliver the desired verdict."

This most recent crackdown began last spring, when the Muslim Brotherhood lent its support to judges campaigning for judicial independence and clean elections.

Over subsequent months, security forces detained at least 792 members of the organization, many of them without charge.

The crackdown accelerated after students affiliated with the organization on December 10 protested the conduct of student union elections at Al-Azhar University wearing black hoods.

Though the students later apologized for the demonstration and leaders stressed that the group has no militia and is committed to peaceful change, hundreds of members have since been arrested.

On January 28, public prosecutor "Abd al-Magid Mahmud ordered al-Shatir"s assets, and those of 28 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, frozen on the grounds that they financed a banned organization.

The acceleration in arrests coincides with an escalation in the political confrontation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the government.

In an interview released January 11, President Mubarak called the Muslim Brotherhood "a threat to national security." Soon after, the group"s supreme guide, Mahdi "Akef, said that the group would apply for the first time to register as a legal political party in response to proposed constitutional amendments that would exclude Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated candidates from future elections, including elections for the upper house of Parliament this spring.

On January 26, Interior Minister Habib al-"Adli, responding on state television to a journalist"s erroneous assertion that the Muslim Brotherhood claims 3,000 of its members are in prison, rejected the claim, but suggested that the government should "complete that number," apparently by arresting hundreds more.

"All political parties and groupings in Egypt, including the Muslim Brotherhood, should be able to peacefully express their views, even when criticizing the government."  

According to the Muslim Brotherhood, the following members of the group were detained as of February 13, 2007, Facing Military Trial:

1. Muhammad Khairat Sa"d "Abd al-Latif al-Shatir, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

2. Ayman Ahmad "Abd al-Ghani Hasanain, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

3. Ahmad "Iz al-Din Ahmad Muhammad al-Ghul, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

4. Mahmud Ahmad Muhammad Abu Zaid, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

5. Salah al-Dusuqi Ammar Murad, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

6. Isam Abd al-Muhsin Afifi Muhammad, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

7. Yasir Mahmud Muhammad Abdo, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

8. Sadiq "Abd al-Rahman Sadiq al-Sharqawi, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

9. Mamduh Ahmad "Abd al-Mu"ti al-Husaini, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

10. Sayyid Ma"ruf Abu al-Yazid Musbah, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

11. Fathi Muhammad Baghdadi "Ali Muhammad, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

12. Mahmud al-Mursi Muhammad Qawra, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

13. Muhammad Muhanna Hasan Musa, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

14. Gamal Mahmud Sha"ban al-Sayyid, Alexandria governorate, Tura Prison

15. Farid "Ali Ahmad Galabat, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

16. Mustafa Muhammad Mahmud Salim, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

17. Muhammad "Ali Fathi Yalbagh, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

18. Ahmad Mahmud Muhammad Shusha, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

19. Ahmad Ashraf Muhammad Mustafa "Abd al-Warith, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

20. Hasan "Iz al-Din Yusif Malik, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

21. Muhammad Mahmud Hafith Muhammad, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

22. Muhammad "Ali Isma"il Bashar, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

23. Midhat Mahmud Ahmad al-Hadad, Alexandria governorate, Tura Prison

24. Usama "Abd al-Muhsin "Abdullah Shirbi, Alexandria governorate, Tura Prison

25. Khalid "Abd al-Qadir "Ali "Oda, Asyut governorate, Tura Prison

26. "Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Muhammad Mustafa Sa"udi, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

27. "Isam "Abd al-Halim Ibrahim Hashish, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

28. Diya" al-Din al-Sayyid "Abd al-Magid Farahat, Cairo governorate, Tura Prison

29. Mahmud "Abd al-Latif "Ali "Abd al-Gawwad, Alexandria governorate, Tura Prison

30. Sa"id Sa"d "Ali "Abdo, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

31. Ahmad Ahmad Ahmad al-Nahhas, Alexandria governorate, Tura Prison

32. Amir Muhammad Bissham al-Naggar, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Priso

Not facing military trial as of February 13, 2007:

33. "Abd al-Rahman Gad al-Rab Muhammad Ibrahim, al-Minya governorate, Tura Prison

34. "Abd al-Rahman Ramadan Shahin al-Musailahi, Suez governorate, Tura Prison

35. Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad al-Dahawi, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

36. Muhammad "Ali "Ali al-Garrahi, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

37. Islam Basyuni Basyuni al-Qa"id, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

38. Muhammad Sa"d Ibrahim al-"Isawi, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

39. Ahmad al-Shazli "Abd al-Gawwad Khalil, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

40. "Abdullah Sa"id "Abdullah Muhammad Salim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

41. Muhammad Gum"a "Obaid "Abd al-Ghani, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

42. Mahmud al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sayyid, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

43. Muhammad Muhammad Fathi Ibrahim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

44. Hisham Abu Bakr Muhammad "Ali Rashid, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

45. "Abd al-Latif Muhammad "Abd al-Mu"ti "Abd al-Latif, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

46. Hamada Muhammad Nur "Iyad, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

47. Mahmud Abu al-Hamd Mahmud Shaf"i, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

48. Muhammad Mahmud Muhammad Mahmud al-Naggar, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

49. Muhammad Gamal Kamal al-Shalaqani, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

50. Usama Mustafa "Abd al-Wahhab "Abd al-"Aziz, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

51. Muhammad Hilmi Ahmad Dusuqi, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

52. Muhammad Mustafa Muhammad Shalata, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

53. Tariq Sa"id Muhammad al-Mishd, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

54. Yasir Muhammad Yasir Muhammad "Abd al-Halim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

55. Muhammad Fu"ad "Abd al-Magid al-Rifa"i, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

56. Muhammad "Awad al-Mursi Isma"il, Dumyat governorate, Tura Prison

57. Muhammad Galal "Abd al-Mun"im Shamya, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

58. Mahmud Gamal Mahmud Shibli, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

59. Walid Shahir al-Din al-Gali "Abd al-Salam, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

60. Ahmad Shawqi Husain al-Barbari, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

61. Muhammad "Adil "Abd al-"Aziz al-"Ishri, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

62. Muhammad Tariq Ahmad Hashim, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

63. Ahmad Muhammad Kamil Muhammad "Ali, Suhag governorate, Tura Prison

64. Ahmad Husain Mahmud Sab", al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

65. Ahmad Muhammad Qotb Siyam, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

66. Mahmud Matar Mahmud Sabbah, N Sinai governorate, Tura Prison

67. Ahmad Tharwat al-Sayyid "Ataya, Suhag governorate, Tura Prison

68. Ahmad Gad al-Karim "Abd al-Rahim "Uthman, Suhag governorate, Tura Prison

69. "Abdullah Muhammad Ahmad al-Murshidi, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

70. Al-Mun"asim Billah "Imad "Ashur al-Barbari, Dumyat governorate, Tura Prison

71. Ahmad Mustafa "Abd al-Qadir "Uthman, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

72. Muhammad "Abd al-Hadi Ramadi "Abd al-Hadi, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

73. "Abd al-Sitar Muhammad "Abd al-Mun"im Muhammad Khair al-Din, al-Qalubiyya governorate, Tura Prison

74. Ahmad "Abd al-Sitar "Abd al-Wahhab "Abd al-Gawwad, Bani Suwaif governorate, Tura Prison

75. Ahmad Sulaiman Farag "Oda, Isma"iliyya governorate, Tura Prison

76. Hassan Muhammad Hassan Muhammad "Awwad, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

77. Walid "Abd al-Mutagalli Mukarram Allah Ahmad, Asyut governorate, Tura Prison

78. Rami Sayyid Mahmud Ibrahim, al-Qalubiyya governorate, Tura Prison

79. "Amr Abu Sari" Husain, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

80. Ahmad al-Tayyib Muhammad Abu al-Magd, Qina governorate,

Tura Prison

81. "Abdullah Muhammad Sa"d Sukkar, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

82. "Atiyya Khairi Muhammad Abu al-"Ila, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

83. Ahmad al-Baili "Abd al-Bari "Ali, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

84. Muhammad al-Mutawalli Muhammad Ibrahim Khayal, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

85. Muhammad Sabir Ibrahim "Obaid, Alexandria governorate, Tura Prison

86. Ahmad Fathi "Ula "Ula "Awad, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

87. Khalil Husain Khalil, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

88. Mu"ath "Adil "Abd al-"Aziz al-"Ishri, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

89. "Atiyya Muhammad "Atiyya Ibrahim al-Bayyumi, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

90. Ahmad Hasan al-Sayyid "Abd al-Hadi, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

91. Zaki Ahmad Zaki Muhammad, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

92. Hani Ahmad Bakr "Allam, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

93. Muhammad al-Sayyid Ahmad Ahmad Kanani, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

94. Mahmud Sha"ban Zakariyya "Uwais, Bani Suwaif governorate, Tura Prison

95. Muhammad "Abd al-Ra"uf "Ali Ahmad, N Sinai governorate, Tura Prison

96. Gamal Muhammad "Ali "Abd al-Rahim, Suhag governorate, Tura Prison

97. Muhammad al-Sa"id "Abd al-Rahman Tayil, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

98. "Abd al-Rahman Mustafa "Abd al-Wahhab, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

99. Usama Ahmad "Id "Abdullah, Bani Suwaif governorate, Tura Prison

100. Muhammad Hasan Muhammad al-Banna, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

101. Sa"id Ragab Shilqami, Bani Suwaif governorate, Tura Prison

102. Kamil al-Sayyid Ahmad Ibrahim, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

103. Hatim "Abd al-Hamid Muhammad Ibrahim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

104. "Amro Tal"at Mahmud "Abd al-Karim, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

105. Husain Ishaq Muhammad Ibrahim, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

106. "Isam Ibrahim Abu al-Yazid "Arafa, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

107. "Abd al-Hamid al-Sa"id "Abd al-Hamid al-Salakhawi, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

108. Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad al-Taya, Luxor governorate, Tura Prison

109. Gamal Ibrahim "Ali al-Samahi, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

110. Muhsin Muhammad Mahmud "Umara, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

111. Ahmad Muhammad "Abd al-Ra"uf, Suhag governorate, Tura Prison

112. Muhammad Ibrahim Ibrahim al-Tahan, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

113. Karam "Umran "Abd al-Rahman al-Siddiq, Qina governorate, Tura Prison

114. "Adil "Abd al-Rahim Yunis "Abd al-Rahim, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

115. Ahmad al-Sayyid Fahim Hamam, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

116. "Ali al-Sayyid "Abd al-Ra"uf "Ali Abu Si"da, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

117. "Umran "Abd al-Magid "Abd al-Latif "Umran, Giza governorate, Tura Prison

118. Sa"d Amin Sa"d Makki, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

119. Ashraf Ahmad "Uthman, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

120. Ahmad "Abd al-"Ati Ahmad Isma"il, Bani Suwaif governorate, Tura Prison

121. Muhammad "Abd al-"Aziz Zaidan "Abd al-"Aziz, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

122. Muhammad "Abd al-Mun"im Gum"a Shahin, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

123. "Abd al-Munsaf Mustafa "Abd al-Wahhab, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

124. Ahmad "Atif Muhammad Mahmud, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

125. Muhammad Ibrahim "Ali Ibrahim Abu al-Naga, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

126. Hazim Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

127. Ahmad al-Husaini al-Sayyid Ahmad, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

128. Saddam Khattab Labib Badawi, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

129. Usama al-Baz Radi Muhammad, al-Mansura Prison, Tura Prison

130. Wa"il Taha al-Sinusi Higazi, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

131. "Imad al-Din Ahmad Hasanain Higazi, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

132. "Ammar Muhammad "Abd al-"Athim "Abd al-Magid, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

133. Ibrahim Hasan Muhammad Zaghlul, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

134. Muhammad "Atif Muhammad al-Sayyid al-Qusbi, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

135. Taha Mulhim Hin "Abd al-"Aziz, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

136. Samih Higazi Muhammad "Abdullah, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

137. Sahib Muhammad Shawkat "Ali al-Malt, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

138. Mu"ath Muhammad Shafiq "Awadallah, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

139. Hamdi "Abd al-Magid Isma"il Hamid, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

140. Muhammad "Abd al-Magid Muhammad Mustafa, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

141. Samih Ahmad Ma"mun al-Baltagi, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tura Prison

142. Islam Ahmad Ibrahim al-Dusuqi, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

143. Rida Mustafa "Awad Ibrahim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

144. Muhammad Salah Mustafa "Abd al-Rahim, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

145. Mahmud Fathi Salim "Ali, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

146. Ahmad Bindari Ibrahim Muhammad, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

147. Rabi" Mu"awwad Ragab Yusif, Bani Suwaif governorate, Tura Prison

148. Muhammad Muhammad Ahmad "Abd al-Khaliq, Suhag governorate, Tura Prison

149. Walid "Abd al-Tawwab "Abd al-Gawwad Muhammad, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

150. Yihya al-Sayyid Ibrahim Muhammad, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

151. Gamal Tal"at Sa"id Muhammad, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

152. Ibrahim Nasr al-Din Sayyid Hasan, al-Qalubiyya governorate, Tura Prison

153. Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad "Abd al-Ma"bud, Fayum governorate, Tura Prison

154. Mustafa Hasan Salama, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

155. Muhammad Ahmad "Abd al-Rahman al-Naggar, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

156. Mahmud Muhammad Husain Ahmad, Qina governorate, Tura Prison

157. Wahdan Muhammad Hasan Musallam, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

158. Ibrahim Rabi" Ibrahim, al-Minya governorate, Tura Prison

159. Wa"il Guda Muhammad Ibrahim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Tura Prison

160. Yusri al-Sayyid Mustafa Shihata, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

161. Ahmad Muhammad Mahmud Abu Hasan, Buhaira governorate, Tura Prison

162. Mustafa Fathi Mustafa Fathi Farag Yunis, al-Munufiyya governorate, Tura Prison

163. "Abd al-Mun"im Muhammad Hasan al-Badawi, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

164. Basyuni Muhammad "Abd al-Raziq, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

165. Ahmad Muhammad Sa"d Ramadan, Kafr al-Shaikh governorate, Tura Prison

166. Mahmud Ahmad Fu"ad al-Sayyid al-Shami, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tura Prison

167. Al-Sayyid al-Sayyid Ahmad Salim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

168. Baha" Muhammad "Abd al-Rahman, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

169. Tal"at Salah al-Din Husain, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

170. Al-Shabrawi Muhammad al-Shabrawi, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

171. "Ali "Abd al-Ra"uf Isma"il, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

172. Munir Ahmad Mabruk Hatata, al-Munufiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

173. Muhammad Fahim Muhammad Tahun, al-Munufiyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

174. Ramadan "Abd al-Hamid "Abd al-Gawwad Isma"il, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

175. Fakhr al-Din al-Rifa"i Ahmad Ghanim, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

176. Hamam Muhammad Ibrahim "Abd al-Fattah, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

177. "Abd al-Fattah Qasim "Abd al-Fattah Badr, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Burg al-"Arab Prison

178. "Abd al-"Athim Husain Shaltut, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

179. Mahmud Muhammad Sulaiman Mahgub Rihab, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

180. Khalid Hashim "Abd al-Qadir Rihab, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

181. Muhammad "Ali Dirgham, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

182. Muhammad Yusif al-Shura, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

183. Ayman Mahmud Shura al-Shaf"i, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

184. Wahid "Abd al-Muhsin al-Qazaz, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

185. "Ala" al-Din Mahmud Muhammad Badra, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

186. Muhammad Ahmad "Abd al-Ghani Hasanain, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

187. "Abdullah Guda al-Bahrawi, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

188. Yasir Rushdi Muhammad Yusif, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

189. Muhammad "Abd al-Rahim Habib, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

190. Amir Muhammad Bassam, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

191. Muhsin Anwar Qahwa, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

192. Muhammad "Izzat, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

193. Mahir "Abd al-Latif, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

194. Usama Ibrahim, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

195. Muhammad Nagib "Abd al-Ghani, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

196. Hasan "Uthman, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

197. Hamdi "Allam, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

198. Muhammad "Awda, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

199. Ashraf Baghdadi, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

200. Tamir Subhi, al-Sharqiyya governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

201. Muhammad Mustafa Isma"il Hindi, Giza governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

202. "Amro Muhammad Sa"d Haggag, Giza governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

203. Mustafa Hasan "Abbas, Giza governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

204. "Ali Nasrallah Zabadi, Giza governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

205. Mustafa Ahmad "Abd al-Ghani, Bani Suwaif governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

206. "Abd al-Halim "Amr Ahmad Hasanain, Bani Suwaif governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

207. "Imad Hamdi Gabr, Fayum governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

208. "Abd al-Rahman "Abd al-"Aziz Sulaiman, Fayum governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

209. Muhammad Fikri "Abd al-"Al, Fayum governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

210. Bakri Rabi" Muhammad, Fayum governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

211. "Amr Husain Riyad, Fayum governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

212. Nasir Mahmud Musa Mana", Fayum governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

213. Hasan "Anbar, Suhag governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

214. Muhammad "Abd al-"Aziz, Cairo governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

215. Muhammad Farag, Cairo governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

216. Muhammad Ziyada, Cairo governorate, Wadi al-Natrun Prison

217. Hamid Mansur, Cairo governorate, al-Mansura Prison

218. Muhammad Zakariyya Mahmud, al-Daqahliyya governorate, al-Mansura Prison

219. Muhammad "Abd al-Rahman Yusif, al-Daqahliyya governorate, al-Mansura Prison

220. Muhammad "Abd al-Ghani Farag, al-Daqahliyya governorate, al-Mansura Prison

221. Muhammad Nagib al-Naggar, al-Daqahliyya governorate, Tanta Prison

222. Ahmad Muhammad al-Shinawi al-Naggar, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tanta Prison

223. "Ala" Ahmad Sayyid Ahmad Gharaba, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tanta Prison

224. Nasr Muhammad al-Sayyid Nur, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tanta Prison

225. Muhammad Basyuni al-Qusbi, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tanta Prison

226. Fawzi al-Murasi al-Dusuqi Nowfal, al-Gharbiyya governorate, Tanta Prison .

On January 28, Cairo Criminal Court ruled that all charges brought by the Egyptian government against detained members of the Muslim Brotherhood were groundless and politically motivated. The court ordered their immediate release, however the government completely disregarded the court order and decided to refer the group to a military tribual using the emergency laws imposed since 1981. The following is the entire court ruling . .

Initial investigations by the Supreme State Security Attorney ended with their referral to the Appeals Court at the office of the Attorney General in Cairo. Having interrogated the accused, Counsel Hamed Tawfiq Hamed along with member Counsels Mohammed Fathi Sadiq, Yahya Al-Sayyed Al-Ghareeb and Chief Attorney Hani Hammouda, ordered the annulment of the arrest and search warrant issued by the office of Supreme State Security Attorney due to the lack of evidence in the records of the state security investigation bureau, and hence the invalidity of the order of exceptional detention.

The Court ruled to accept the appeal in form, while in essence annulling all decisions of exceptional detention issued by the State Security Attorney, hence ordering the release of all suspects with immediate effect and without bail. The Appeals Court memo stated that each of the accused had no relationship whatsoever with the Azhar University students and that the whole matter is of a pure political nature. The memo also stated that all charges made by the police and mentioned in the investigation records were fabricated and consisted of gross exaggeration, and subsequently the arrests that took place and the search of the homes of the accused were in no way conducive to the best interests of the nation and its security.

The memo added that that police deliberately fabricated this whole case in respect to all the accused and abused its powers in what was essentially a publicity-seeking case of a political nature, in which around 40 Azhar University students carried out a public demonstration. The Court also found that the case lacked any element upon which a case could be made and charges could be brought

The Appeals Court ruling also stated that there was no justification for exceptional detention as no gross breach of security was found, as claimed by the unacceptable records of the State Security Investigation Department, particularly in light of the accused being of good standing and individuals of high positions and renowned personal records.

The investigations, the Court ruled, were merely reflective of the personal opinions and stands of the authors of the report, Officers Atif Al-Husseini and Ahmed Mahmoud.Despite the ruling of the Appeals Court to release immediately, finally and without bail, the Interior Ministry refused to carry out the ruling and issued a warrant to arrest all the detainees, who in effect left the courthouse directly to prison, after which the State Security Attorney submitted an application to the Attorney General requesting the confiscation of the monies of the accused, their spouses and children, effectively preventing the wives and children of the accused to use their money or access their bank accounts in any way, while these are placed under the management of the National Egyptian Bank.

Despite the Appeals Court ruling of the invalidity of the investigations carried out by the security forces in respect to the charges brought against the accused, the State Security Attorney insisted in its memo to the Attorney General that the records showed sufficient evidence to back the charges which deem the move to freeze the monies and accounts of the accused necessary. This application was approved by the Attorney General and the above application was granted.

President Mubarak, in his capacity as Military Governor, then issued an order referring the accused to the Military Court, on a date that is expected to be announced early next month.

This brings the number of Military Courts before which leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood stood over the past 20 years, to five. The first was in 1995 following the convention of the Brotherhood’s Shura Council elections, then in 1996 when the Muslim Brotherhood decided to apply to establish a political party; Al-Wasat, and most notable amongst the then accused was the present General Guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef. The third Military Court convened and before which the Muslim Brotherhood stood was in 1999 in relation to the case known as the Engineers’ Syndicate case involving Dr. Mohamed Ali Bishr and the fourth was in 2001 in the case of the university professors.

On February 28, 2007, Cairo Criminal Court headed by Counselor Adel Abdel Salam Gomaa, upheld the Prosecutor General decision to freeze assets of 29 MB leaders and their families and rejected their appeal to overturn the decision.

The harsh decision by the court did not put into consideration that several families" lives will be disrubted not only because they lost their caregivers and loved ones to prison cells but also they now have to scramble to find financial support for their kids to survive and go to schools.  

Tension rose inside the courtroom when family members and press as well as several members of the defence teams were blocked from entery, a decision that prompted a sit in by Khairat el Shater, MB deputy leader, and other MB detainees outside the court to protest the decision. 

Attorny Safwat al Demeree described the court ruling as injust and defies all the international treaties and laws. He stated to Ikhwanweb that the Egyptian regime continues to violate human rights of its citizens and is determined to crush any peaceful opposition that might threaten its grip on power as it did with Ayman Nour and Talaat el Sadat who are in prison.

On March 7, 2007, MB lawyers lodged appeals to challenge the regime"s unjustified decision of freezing assets of Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
 
Lawyers for Muslim Brotherhood leaders lodged on Tuesday at noon a number of appeals against the Egyptian regime"s decision of freezing assets of 29 MB leaders and denying their wives and children access to money or bank accounts .
 
Lawyer Mostafa Al Demeiri told Ikhwanweb that the defense team lodged four appeals against the rulings and measures related to freezing money of 29 MB leaders; the first appeal, he added, was against the ruling of Cairo Criminal Court (south) headed by counselor Adel Abdul Salam; Abdul Salam"s ruling has been challenged in front of the Court of Cassation for his violating many legal proofs and ignoring the conclusive evidence presented by the defence team to proves that the frozen assets are prive properties of individuals apart from the group"s assets.

Al Demeiri added that the Muslim Brotherhood group will take all legal procedures to lift the Egyptian regime"s injustice and groundless charges against MB leaders

Egypt"s Administrative Court will hear the appeal lodged by 33 MB leaders and 100 of their wives and children to settle the lawsuit they filed to the Constitutional Court to suspend the president"s decision of referring them to the military tribunals.

The Administrative Court will hear, next Tuesday April, 3, 2007, the appeal lodged by 33 Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders and about 100 of their wives and underage children to settle the lawsuit they filed to the Constitutional Court to suspend the president"s decision of referring them to the military tribunals.

Eng. Khairat Al Shater, the second deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a number of MB leaders who were referred to the military tribunals, filed an appeal in front of the Administrative Court, in the State Council, against the ruling of the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of refusing to set a session to hear the conflict request, demanding to oblige him to define an urgent session to hear the request .

In a related context, Cairo Criminal Court (second district), headed by counselor Gamil Ahmed Nada, issued a ruling on Thursday March, 29, 2007, of releasing 8 MB detained leaders, including 5 referred to a military court and canceling the Interior Minister"s arrest warrant; the five are:

This is a coverage of the April 26th MB Military Trial session:

The following is a report of the farce that took place inside the court room which was a mockery of justice by all means. 

First Session of Al Shater"s Military Trial Kicks Off

- Defendants Defended Themselves, Cornered Military Prosecution

- Grave violations committed by the military prosecution nullifying measures of referring them to military trial .. military prosecution accused of concealing Interior Ministry"s scandalous violations.

- Military prosecutor admits there is no financial report for money laundry charges more than 4 months after starting the case.

- Riddle of the "Arrest Warrant" that angered the chief justice and made him end the session suddenly .

The Supreme Military Tribunal held its first sessions last Thursday, April, 26, to hear case no. 2 of the year 2007 known as the group of eng. Khairat Al Shater, 39 other businessmen, university professors and professionals .

The trial session, held in Huckstepp military to which the media was denied access, was full of many surprises that the defendants revealed in front of the court .

The session started several minutes before 1.00PM in a big stage related to the military base; it was the same place that witnessed military courts against the Muslim Brotherhood in 1995 .

No lawyers attended, protesting at not informing them of the date of the session; the defendants defended themselves and the court gave every one of them the chance to talk in an attempt to absorb the floods of anger and bitterness out of the grave violations committed by the State Security Police and the military prosecution since case started to be heard; every defendant gave a short profile about himself and his demands that focused on rejecting referring civilians to military justice, nullifying the lawsuit look and releasing all defendants; they called also for not involving the military institution in any political disagreements with the ruling party.

The session was fiery from the very beginning; the chief justice asked the defendants whether they were informed of the decision of referring them to the court, the responded with accusing the military prosecution of rushing them to trial to cover the Interior Ministry"s grave violations; what happened last Tuesday, April 24, 2007, confirm this; 11 defendants happened, including engineer Khairat Al Shater were acquitted after the court overturned the appeal lodged by the Interior Minister; this meant that the Interior Ministry must release them and implement the final court ruling; however, the Interior Ministry resorted to a silly trick by asking the acquitted group to prepare themselves to go to the military prosecution; after they got out of prison for half hour which they spent inside the prison trucks, they were returned back to prison, and at 11.00PM the 32 defendants were informed that the first session of their military court will be held on Thursday morning, given that that day Wednesday was an official holiday inside and outside prison; this meant that it was impossible for the defendants to contact their lawyer or families to inform them of the date of the trial.

The defendant continued their attack against the military prosecution and said that the decision of referring them the military court is void and null because the military prosecutor committed grave mistakes in the measures: he did not investigate with any one of them; half of them have never appeared before the military prosecution while the other half appeared before it only to see his detention prolonged and faced no investigations; this means that the military prosecutor has based his attitude according to the memo of investigations fabricated by the State Security Police and he sided to it without having any single evidence against any defendant. The defendants pointed out that Cairo Criminal court considered the State Security Police"s memo as void and null and it issued three rulings of releasing the defendants, giving no weight to these groundless accusations.

Also, most defendants refused to speak in front of the Higher State Security Prosecution that heard the case before referring it to the Military Court; how has the military prosecutor concluded that it was proved that the defendant committed the actions they are charged of committing?

The defendants pointed out that the military prosecution treated them unjustly since the very beginning; it refused, throughout 3 months, to give permits to their lawyers to visit them in prison and to arrange the documents of the case, in violation to the defendant"s right; some of them demanded enabling him to sign an attorney to complete some of his affairs outside prison, but the military prosecution did not enable him to do so. Add to this that when some of the defendants appealed against jailing them, they appeared, to their surprise, before the same district court that ordered them released!!

Although the military prosecutor accused twenty one defendants of illegal money laundry and eight others of being accomplices in committing money laundry crimes; however, the military prosecution acknowledged in front of the court that the money laundry committee report hasn"t been presented to the military prosecution; this is actually a farce in the case; this is because any money laundry charge is based on suspicion that defines a specific place, time and behavior ; if the suspicions are true the money laundry unit at the central bank shall be notified to probe into the case and prepare a report about it; if its report shows that the suspicion is serious, it will be referred to the public prosecution which summons the defendant and gives him the chance to defend himself and present the documents that support his situation.

But what law states what the state security prosecution does are completely divorced; the defendants were charged, their companies were shut down and their documents were taken without allowing them to defend themselves.

The defendants accused the military prosecution of fabricating the report to support its viewpoint to be consistent with the fabricated accusations mentioned in the State Security Police memo.

There other violations committed by the military prosecution; a surprise was undisclosed at the end of the session; before this; the defendants demanded overturning the lawsuit and waiting for two important rulings that will have decisive effects on the case: the first ruling from the Constitutional Court regarding the unconstitutionality of the president"s decision of referring civilians to Military Courts; engineer Khairat Al Shater and others filed this appeal in 1995 ( when he was referred then to the military justice); he filed a new lawsuit to the Administrative Court of suspending the decision of referring them till the Constitutional Court hears the case and issues a ruling.

As for the second ruling, it is a conflict of competence between the civil justice and the military justice because the money laundry case is heard by two courts, one is civil and the second is military.

The court must suspend hearing this case for all these reasons.

The biggest surprise was the suspicious behavior of the military prosecution when more than one defendant said that it is illegal to bring the eleven persons who were released from detention to the court from jail; this because they are released and should be informed from their places of residence of the date of the trial; the military prosecution doesn"t have the power to jail them after the Criminal Court acquittal unless the prosecution summons them and directs a new charge against them. More than one defendant insisted demanding seeing the arrest warrants and their date and place; an unidentified person who was attending the trial session got out seemingly to solve this problem; he seemingly gave the court a photocopy of an arrest warrant and the chief justice said: " We have now a photocopy of the arrest warrant"; when the defendants demanded repeatedly to see it to check its date ( to compare this with the time in which they got out of prison) and demanded to see the arrest reports which are registered after arresting defendants, the chief justice tried to solve this problem and rescuing the military prosecution through adjourning the session till next June, 3rd; he said that he adjourned it at the request of the defendants although they didn"t demand this, but they demanded nullifying hearing the lawsuit in front of the Military Court due to the above mentioned reasons.

This last behavior of the chief justice added to the owes of the defendants and their families; they chanted slogans and supplications due to the feelings of injustice.

- Although the chief justice said that the session is open and public, the media outlets were denied access; many TV channels, correspondents and journalists arrived in front of the court since the early morning, but they were denied access.

- The military police prevented women from entering the courtroom except after repeated calls and demands and after the session was about to be wrapped up.

-The defendants performed the prayers of the noon and afternoon collectively inside the iron cages at the left of the stage.

- In an attempt to ease tensions, the military police gave the defendants tea and biscuit, but most of them were fasting.

- 6 persons are tried n the case in absentia, most of them are outside Egypt since long years and one of them holds a Syrian nationality.

- Hassan Zalat didn"t appear in the trial because he is in Kasr Alainy hospital to which he was moved after having a heart attack in Torah farm prison.

For the second time, Cairo Criminal Court (civilian court) acquitted Khairat Al Shater, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and 11 others and ordered their immediate release from government"s detention. It is not expected the government will respect the civilian court order as it did the first time when it referred 38 MB detainees, who are civilians, for military trials to ensure a guilty verdict following their acquittal by natural court. 

The second appeal was filed by the detainees’ families and the court, again, vindicated all government"s charges of money laundery and threatening the country"s security and called them "politically motivated". The court also canceled all of the prosecutors" decisions to freeze assets of MB leaders and their families.

The military court appointed by President Mubarak in his capacity as a military ruler according to emergency laws is still examining the MB leaders cases and is expected to rule in favor of the government as it always did in the past. 

Attorney Abdul Moneim Abdul Maqsoud said in a statement to Ikhwanweb that the civilian court ruling proves the integrity and fairness of the Egyptian justice system calling it "humble victory for the detainees and their families who are suffering tremendously"

Abdul Maqsood added that the ruling confirms that the charges against the detainees are groundless and that the provisional detentions are unjustified.

Abdul Maqsood hoped that the Interior Ministry would enforce the acquittal issued by the Criminal Court for the second time.

February 2007, We are a group of university professors, businessmen and professionals who have been jailed pending investigations in the case No. 963 which was transferred to a military tribunal by the order of president Mubarak using his power as a military ruler of Egypt according to the emergency laws. We would like to state the following facts to the great Egyptian people:

First:

The charges brought by the government against us are groundless and politically motivated, and only aim at excluding the opposition, which we represent, from political participation at a time when Egypt is witnessing a  heated discussion surrounding the government’s proposed constitutional amendments.  These amendments will curb freedoms, facilitate election rigging and alter the constitution in a way that establishes the authoritarian system and exclude the honored Egyptian citizens, including the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) members and leaders from engaging in any social, political and activities.

Second:

The Criminal Court on January 28, 2007 issued its ruling to immediately release all MB detainees and without delay, but instead of complying with the court order and respect the judiciary; the Interior Ministry issued another arrest warrant against all persons acquitted by the court. This was followed by a presidential decision to refer the case to a military tribunal  denying us the right to stand trial in front of a normal civilian judge and to deny us the legal right to appeal the court ruling, which confirms that the case is politically motivated.

Third:

The State Security Prosecutor has violated the law when it falsely accused us of money laundry without following the proper legal procedures in this regard and ordered to freeze all assets owned by us, our families and our minors, which aims at humiliating our families for political reasons, a scheme which has never occurred except under dictatorial regimes.

Fourth:

Most of the detainees aren"t owners or even managers in the companies shut down by the government. These companies are not owned by the Muslim Brotherhood but by individuals who are only shareholders or partners in these companies.

Fifth:

The policy of fabricating charges in order to exclude the real political opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood, only serves the interests of the enemies of this country who immediately welcomed and praised the Egyptian regime"s unjust measures against the Muslim Brotherhood.

These arbitrary measures against us are completely contradicting the claims of reform and change, and deny us our rights as citizens and violate right of ownership guaranteed by the constitution; they also have a negative impact on the economic atmosphere in Egypt, and make businessmen hesitate to invest in Egypt.

We demand all Egyptian national powers to reject such unjust measures; we demand all respected and honest citizens in Egypt, and every one advocating justice all over the world to work for lifting injustice and oppression which the political opposition is suffering in Egypt.

We finally confirm that we will maintain our national attitude despite the high price of reform which we are obliged to pay through this injustice and oppression.

"Verily We shall not suffer to perish the reward of any who do a (single) righteous deed. "
"And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs; but most among mankind know it not."

February 2007, While all Egyptians are waiting for a unified stance at the public and government levels towards the Zionist violations against Al Aqsa Mosque, and while government vetted and official media propagate for hollow promises about political reforms due to the constitutional amendments, and while corruption, maladministration and repression hit a boiling point among all Egyptians, specially respected and active citizens.

During this hard time, the president decides to refer more Egyptians who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), topped by Eng. Mohamed Khayrat Al Shater, the second deputy chairman, to a military tribunal that lacks any guarantees, including a judicial independence and the right to have two steps in the litigation.

Transferring them to a military tribunal took place after the Criminal Court acquitted them and cancelled all the attorney general"s decisions of jailing them pending trial!.

This is actually a reloaded farce, as more than 150 Muslim Brotherhood leaders were previously referred to a military court and some of them were unjustly sentenced to 3 to 5 years behind bars in a flagrant violation to the constitution, law and human rights; however, (they did not become weak-hearted on account of what befell them in Allah"s way, nor did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves).

We condemn this unfair decision that does not respect the simplest rights of citizenship, that uses all unconstitutional schemes to settle scores in a political disagreement, that violates a constitutional right for citizens to appear in front of a civil judge who represents justice and equality.

Returning to sending civilians to military courts is a serious relapse the threatens citizenship and human rights and proves to all that Egypt is experiencing a state of instability.

Sending businessmen and investors to military courts due to economic charges, and freezing assets will definitely have a negative impact on the climate of investment and development at time Egypt is seeking all efforts to bring it out of the deteriorating economic situations, including unemployment, price hikes and poverty that hit all citizens.

Causing tensions between the regime and people serves only our country"s enemies, including Zionists and Americans and helps these enemies maintain their aggressive policy against Arabs and Muslims and leads to spreading schism all over the Muslim Arab World.

We call on all free men in the world, political powers in Egypt and all Human Rights Organizations to fight these continuous flagrant violations against the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood confirms that it will cooperate with all sincere Egyptians to achieve the political and constitutional reforms through all peaceful and legal methods to realize freedom, justice and equality for all Egyptians.

Despite all this tyranny, persecution and terrorism, we will continue- God willing- our method, won’t deviate from it and we won’t be enticed to any other method.

My message to the Muslim Brothers is: seek help from Allah, be patient and steadfast to your principles; don’t falter and don’t be sad as you will be victorious- God willing- whatever the persecutions afflicting you.

We will always be  guided by Allah who says:(Those unto whom men said: Lo! the people have gathered against you, therefor fear them. (The threat of danger) but increased the faith of them and they cried: Allah is Sufficient for us! Most Excellent is He in Whom we trust!)

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, including the group’s number three, to stand trial before a military court, officials said yesterday.

“The president of the republic has ordered that leading Muslim Brotherhood member Khayrat Al Shater and others be tried before a military court,” the source said, without specifying how many co-defendants faced trial.

Shater, the movement’s main financier, is part of a group of 29 Brotherhood members whose assets were frozen by the state last month on charges of money-laundering and financing illegal activities.

“It is a cruel decision and it is a political one,” the Brotherhood’s deputy supreme guide Mohammed Habib said.

“This type of exceptional decision gives Arab and foreign investors a sense that there is a lack of stability in Egypt. This will reflect negatively on development in Egypt,” he said.

Shater was arrested in December in the latest government crackdown on Egypt’s largest opposition bloc, following a university demonstration in which masked pro-Brotherhood students held a military-style parade on the campus of Al Azhar University.

Brotherhood lawyers say that 165 members of the group have been detained over the Al Azhar incident, including 31 senior members.

Egyptian authorities accuse the movement, which controls a fifth of the seats in parliament, of seeking to revive its underground military wing and eventually topple the regime.

The step was Egypt’s most serious attempt to stop the Brotherhood from advancing further in mainstream politics.

The country’s strongest opposition group operates openly despite being officially banned.

The Brotherhood won nearly one-fifth of seats in the lower house of the parliament in 2005, its members running as independents to bypass the 53-year-old ban on the group.

Political analysts have said authorities capitalised on the Azhar protest to intensify a crackdown on the group.

Some also point to comments by President Hosni Mubarak that the group poses a threat to Egypt’s security as an indication the government was preparing for a wider assault.

Ahmed Seif Al Islam Hamad, a constitutional lawyer, told Reuters that under emergency law only President Hosni Mubarak could order a civilian to stand trial before a military tribunal.

More than 270 Brotherhood members have been jailed in the crackdown. The group’s finances have also been targeted, with authorities detaining key financiers including Shatir, freezing assets and raiding businesses.

Last week a Cairo court ordered Shatir and 15 other Islamists released, ruling there were insufficient grounds to keep him in custody while an investigation into money-laundering charges continued.

But that court ruling was never implemented. Prosecutors instead ordered Shatir to be kept in jail under emergency laws that allow police to detain suspects without charge.

The emergency laws, in place since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, also allow the government to try civilians before military tribunals.

Rights groups and opposition figures say the government uses such laws to settle political scores and stifle freedom.