EGYPT: Court upholds freeze on Brotherhood assets

A Cairo court upheld on Wednesday (February 28) a freeze on the assets of 29 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition movement. The public prosecutor ordered the freeze on Jan. 28 after accusing the 29 members of charges including money laundering. The Brotherhood has dismissed the charges as a politically motivated attempt to disrupt the organization's activities. The members include Khairat el-Shatir, the most senior Brotherhood member detained in a government crackdown which accelerated in December. Head Judge Adel Gomaa announced the ruling to a courtroom that had been cleared of supporters of the accused. "The decision is to uphold the orders of the General Prosecutor from the 28 January, 2007, that it is forbidden for Mohammed Khairat el-Shatir and the rest of the accused, to spend their money or assets or to manage them. And the court appoints Mohammed Hassanein from the National Bank to manage and direct this money," he said. In its ruling, the Cairo criminal court dismissed the Brotherhood's attempt to have the freeze overturned and appointed an official of state-run National Bank of Egypt to manage the assets. After the ruling was given, one of the accused protested that it had been unjust. "This is a very strange matter. This country does not respect the judge's decisions and does not respect laws. A decision was taken against us forbidding our wives or our children from attending," he said. Members of the Brotherhood, one of the oldest and most influential Islamist groups in the Arab world, won one fifth of the seats in the Egyptian parliament in elections in 2005. Khairat el-Shatir, who is the second deputy of the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Mehdi Akef, condemned those ultimately responsible for the verdict. "How are you going to meet God in the company of honest people, and with all the money has been taken from these people? Fear God, no one will help you when you are in your grave," he said. The Brotherhood, an Islamist group who advocate change through democratic means, had to run as independents in the last elections because the government refuses to recognize their movement or let it form a political party. One of the lawyers for the accused, Gamal Tag, said today's decision was unexpected. "What we are discussing today is freezing their money, and unfortunately the court supported upheld the decision of the General Prosecutor. The judgement today was a surprise and is a step backwards for the law, and it is a violation on their assets without any reason," he said. A Brotherhood officials said on Wednesday that 186 members of the group remain in custody from the recent crackdown. The authorities have not given any estimate of the value of the assets. Although today's hearing was held at a court on the outskirts of Cairo, dozens of supporters for the accused protested the proceedings outside of the court building amidst heavy security. In addition to their assets being frozen, the accused still face unspecified jail terms for supporting the Brotherhood.

ITN Source | March 1, 2007

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