By Kathryn Maureen Ryan

Impunity Watch, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt –An Egyptian court issued a verdict Monday effectively banning  the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist political party that was  nation’s most powerful political group under the regime of the democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi. The Muslim brotherhood, its supporters and other Islamist groups in Egypt have been involved in protest against the July 3 coup that took President Morsi out of power.

The Presiding Judge, Mohammed al-Sayed, said “The court bans the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and its non-governmental organization and all the activities that it participates in and any organization derived from it.” According to MENA, the Egyptian state media, The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters decision to issue a ruling “to ban all activities by the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, the group emanating from it and its non-governmental organisation,” effectively amounts to a ban on the political party and any organization with ties to it. The ruling is a temporary action, it amounts to a preliminary injunction banning the activities of the organization. The ruling will stand until a higher court issues a permanent verdict.

The court was unclear about its reasons for deciding to ban the Muslim Brotherhood but the decision was issued after the leftist party, Tagammu, had sought the immediate action. The Tagammu party accused the Muslim Brotherhood of inciting “terrorism” and of exploiting religion for political gain.

The move has essentially returned the Muslim Brotherhood to its status as an illegal political organization it held under former President Hosni Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood has been outlawed for most of its 85 year history.

Ibrahim Moneir, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, called the court’s ruling a “totalitarian decision.” He said that despite the ruling the organization “will remain with God’s help, not by the orders by the judiciary of el-Sisi.” The “judiciary of el-Sisi” refers to General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who led the military coup that resulted in the overthrow of President Morsi on July 3.

The Muslim Brotherhood stated its belief that it will not be destroyed by the courts ruining on its official twitter feed. The tweet read; “The Muslim Brotherhood is part and parcel of Egyptian society. Corrupt and politically motivated judicial decisions cannot change that,” the Brotherhood said via its Twitter feed, in response to the verdict.

More than 2,000 Egyptian Islamists have been arrested over the past two months, the majority of those arrested have were Brotherhood supporters. Protests organized Pro-Morsi protesters, including Brotherhood supporters, have been violently cracked-down by the military government and many of the organizations leaders and supporters, including Morsi, have been arrested for “inciting terrorism.”

For More Information Please See:

Al Jazeera – Egypt Court Bans all Brotherhood Activities – 23 September 2013

The Guardian – Muslim Brotherhood Banned by Egyptian Court – 23 September 2013

National Public Radio – Egyptian Court Bans the Muslim Brotherhood – 23 September 2013

The New York Times – Egyptian Court Shuts Down the Muslim Brotherhood and Seizes Its Assets – 23 September 2013