300 of the Brotherhood were Released

300 of the Brotherhood were Released

By Ahmed Fatthy

 

On Tuesday, 22 Nov, a prominent member of the Moslem Brotherhood announced that 300, out of 450 Brotherhood’s members who were detained before and in the course of the second round of the parliamentary vote, were set free.

 

“Their release is a positive step and we hope the remaining detainees, 150 members, to be set free,” Essam el-Erian, the Moslem Brotherhood’s leading figure, stated to Islam online. Vote was the drive behind detention for most of them were agents of the Brotherhood’s nominees in polling centers and count commissions. Therefore, they were released after the end of polling.

 

After the end of the second round of the parliamentary election, the banned Moslem Brotherhood triples its representation in the parliament. In the outgoing People Assembly, the movement had 18 seats, now; it has 47 seats, besides expectedly additional seats to be won in the third round of vote.

 

Reuters citied some of the Brotherhood’s members as admitting that the group has enjoyed unprecedented freedom during the first phase. However, tough measures were taken with the start of Sunday’s vote and likely to continue during Saturday’s run-offs.  

 

 The second round witnessed a widespread disorder. For example, the nominees of the Moslem Brotherhood along with that of the opposing parties were violently attacked by thugs, according to monitoring election officials. In addition, police prevented voters to enter polling stations of constituencies in which the Brotherhood is strongly backed. Such actions erupted violence between the supporters of both the Brotherhood and of the ruling National Democratic Party.

 

While the government has pined the blame for the riot which marred the second phase on the Brotherhood, the group explained that the involvement of its backers was just self-defense.