Military Court Drops Terrorism Charges against MB Leaders, Adds Others to Al Shater, Malek

The Egyptian Military Court amended its bill of indictment in the trial of 40 Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders. It dropped the charges of terrorism and money laundry, accusing them only of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. It also added the charge of running and financing the Muslim Brotherhood to seven defendants including Mohamed Khairat Al Shater the second deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood and businessman Hassan Malek and five other defendants living abroad including Youssef Nada.
 
MB lawyer, Abdul Moneim Abdul Maqsoud, told Ikhwanweb that:” Today”s court rulings are generally good but are ambiguous. This is because it added more charges that may send the case back to the prosecution. The most serious charges include accusing Khairat Al Shater and Hassan Malek of financing the group and accusing MB members living outside Egypt of financing Al-Azhar students.”
 
He added that these new accusations are very serious and confirm that the case is politically motivated.
 
“If the court had been serious in its moderation, it should have released the accused, reopened the 70 companies currently sealed due to the attorney general”s decision, sent the case back to the military prosecution to investigate into the new charges”, said Abdul Maqsood, urging the new court to stop hearing the court because it has already issued its decision and that the case should be sent to another court circuit or a new legislature.
 
Essam El-Erian, a top leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, voiced his worry towards Sunday”s ruling, although the judge amended the bill of indictment. He added that the military court should have dropped all charges because they have no legal foundation. The remaining charges are only belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood and possessing leaflets that contain the Muslim Brotherhood”s thought, which are not charges according to Egyptian constitution which has no sanction against embracing a certain thought.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood is, said Al Erian, a real fact in the society. It is well known that 88 of its members account for a fifth of the People”s Assembly. Thus, there is nothing against the defendants for belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood