Egypt Appeal Court Clears Muslim Brotherhood Leaders of Terrorism Charge

The Court of Cassation ruled (by a resolution issued on September 2, 2015) that it should not consider an appeal by Mohamed Badie, Muslim Brotherhood Chairman; Khairat Al-Shater, his first deputy; Mohamed Mahdi Akef, his predecessor; and 15 other Brotherhood leaders – against a decision by the public prosecutor to put their names on the terrorists list.

In the ‘reasoning’ for its ruling, the appeal court described the public prosecutor’s decision as "a pointless harangue that had no legal effect", essentially rejecting the entire decision of the prosecution to include the names of Muslim Brotherhood leaders on the terrorism list.

The Court of Cassation affirmed that the prosecution service committed a legal error by issuing the inclusion decision.

The appeal court ruling thus canceled the public prosecutor’s decision and declared it "null and void". It did not "support the continued inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders on the terrorism list" as Egyptian media published at the time of sentencing.