By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt – On Wednesday, a court in Egypt upheld an earlier ruling that banned the Muslim Brotherhood and ordered their assets confiscated. Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Osama el-Helw announced that they would appeal the ruling and may do so on multiple grounds and in multiple courts.
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The group was originally banned on September 23 as a result of the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi. In that ruling, the court ordered the Brotherhood’s assets to be seized until the criminal trials of the now removed president and the leaders of the Brotherhood are complete.
The original verdict was viewed as a pretext to move against the Muslim Brotherhood’s assets which include schools, hospitals, charities, and businesses. On October 2, members of the ruling government created a committee to review the assets, but thus far have not moved against them.
The leftist Tagammu party, which filed the case demanding the banning of the group, said the new ruling should give the authorities the green light to move.
“The government must take urgent measures to implement the court ruling … and prove it is serious about implementing the law,” Hani el-Husseini, a Tagammu member, told the official MENA news agency.
El-Helw said the government has already violated due process by forming the committee and allowing it to begin its work while the group had filed for suspension of ruling.
“We will pursue legal means. Let the law be the arbiter,” el-Helw said.
Although an appeal is planned it will not stop the government from moving forward unless it is accepted by another court. Legal experts say it is unlikely that the ruling will be overturned despite the fact that the court may have been improper and failed to provide clear guidelines for monitoring the Brotherhood’s assets.
The Muslim Brotherhood has already begun feeling the effects of the new regime, specifically in a charitable capacity.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Cairo, said: “We have been speaking to charities that are affiliated with the organization who say that over the past couple of months, things have gotten very difficult for them indeed, and their donations have all but totally dried up. But now we will see things get even tougher for the Muslim Brotherhood as a financial entity and as a political entity too.”
For further information, please see:
ABC – Egypt Court Upholds Muslim Brotherhood Ban – 6 November 2013
Al Jazeera – Egypt court upholds Muslim Brotherhood ban – 6 November 2013
BBC – Egypt court rejects Muslim Brotherhood ban appeal – 6 October 2013
CNN – Egypt court upholds ban on Muslim Brotherhood activities – 25 October 2013