Court freezes assets of Islamist leaders

Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie
(AFP File Photo)

The North Cairo Criminal Court upheld on Tuesday a decision by the Prosecutor General to freeze assets of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders and other Islamist politicians.

Those with frozen assets include Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and his deputies Khairat El-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi, according to state-owned Al-Ahram. Others include Guidance Bureau member Mahmoud Ezzat Ibrahim, former supreme guide Mahdy Akef, Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Saad Al-Katatny, his deputy Essam El-Erian, Deputy Chairman of Al-Wasat Party Essam Sultan, prominent Brotherhood supporter Safwat Hegazy, senior FJP leader Mohamed Al-Beltagy, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya member Assem Abdel Maged, former presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya spokesman Tarek Al-Zomor, and media personality Mohamed Al-Omda.

Of those with frozen assets, all have been detained by security forces following former President Mohamed Morsi’s removal from power except for Ezzat, Al-Erian, Abdel Maged, and Al-Zomor.

The first court hearing for the trial of Badie, El-Shater, and Bayoumi took place last month and was postponed to 29 October by the South Cairo Criminal Court.

The Brotherhood leaders are facing charges for allegedly killing protesters in front of the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters in Moqattam on 30 June, along with other charges that include murder, attempted murder and the possession of explosives and automatic weapons.

A statement issued by the cabinet on Monday said that arrests during the period of the interim government were not politically-motivated or arbitrary, and were carried out as ordered by the Prosecutor General.

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