Press Statement: Muslim Brotherhood to Challenge “Deeply flawed” UK Gov’t Review in High Court

Press Statement: Muslim Brotherhood to Challenge  “Deeply flawed” UK Gov’t Review in High Court

Prime Minister David Cameron made a statement today in Parliament on the Findings of the government’s review into the Muslim Brotherhood.


In respect of the findings the Head of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Foreign Relations desk, Yehia Hamed, stated:


“The Muslim Brotherhood does not accept the findings outlined in the Prime Minister’s statement. We do not accept that these conclusions can be based on credible evidence.


The Muslim Brotherhood engaged in an open and honest way with Sir John Jenkin’s review. It was hoped that the British government would seek to reciprocate that engagement. It is now clear that the Prime Minister did not intend to carry out a fair review into the Muslim Brotherhood. Our lawyers had repeatedly requested a right to reply to any criticism that might be presented during the review process. This was in order to ensure that the information which would no doubt go on to form government policy was well informed and credible. This has been denied to the Muslim Brotherhood.


We note recent reports in the Guardian that the review was undertaken as a result of pressure by non-democratic regimes in the Middle East opposed to popular democratic movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Today we learnt from further reports that MI5 had advised against conducting the review as it would “prove fruitless.”


Amr Darrag, a member of the executive board of Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party, stated:


“The Prime Minister’s statement that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered a possible indicator of extremism unfairly condemns millions of Muslims and non-Muslims across the world, many of whom are British citizens. This is to fundamentally misinterpret the Middle East’s largest democratic organisation and misunderstand what is needed to bring democratic, peaceful and stable governance to the Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood has worked tirelessly to promote the rule of law and democracy in the Middle East. We are most concerned that the Prime Minister’s statement will afford comfort to those regimes in the region that abuse human rights in order to maintain their own autocratic rule.


Ironically, the prime minister’s statement will prove to be counterproductive when dealing with real extremist groups. His statement feeds into the narrative pushed by violent extremists that democracy doesn’t work and will assist them in recruiting members.”


London based lawyer, Tayab Ali of ITN Solicitors, who is instructed to act for the Muslim Brotherhood states:


“This review is deeply flawed. Following my client’s open engagement with Sir John we repeatedly requested that the government allow my client the opportunity to reply to any criticisms that they may have received during the review process. This was denied. The allegations made in the Prime Minister’s statement are not representative of the discussions I had on behalf of my client with members of the review panel and their lawyers. My client does not accept that the criticisms are credible; they are deeply misguided and wrong. We will be challenging the process of the review and its findings in Court”.