Criminal Court Releases 71 Muslim Brothers

East Cairo Criminal Court has passed a verdict releasing 71 leading figures of the MB who were detained prior to the latest local council elections last April.

Released MBs include Saber Abdul-Sadeq (former MP), Mohamed Kamal Khamis, Yaser Rushdi, Mohamed Yusuf, Lawyer Mohamed Salim Ali Salmy, and Accountant Tareq Abdullatif Abdullah.

Abdul-Monem Abdul-Maqsoud, MB chief attorney, described this step as “positive” and stated that currently there are only 48 MB detainees including 18 sentenced in the military tribunal, including Khairat El Shater, second deputy chairman of the MB.

He added that the Administrative Judicial Court will examine on July 5, 2008 two appeals filed by MB defense attorneys to stop the decision passed by the Prosecutor General not to release them and to make the head of the Supreme Military Court hand the lawyers a copy of the findings of the military rulings passed against the MB leaders.