(AFP File PHOTO/STR)
A committee charged with confiscating the Muslim Brotherhood’s property has frozen the assets of 702 Brotherhood members, according to Judge Wadie Hanna.
The Justice Ministry-formed committee put a preliminary freeze on the assets of 132 Brotherhood members on 29 December and 570 more Brotherhood members on Thursday.
Hanna refused to disclose the names on the list.
State-owned news agency MENA reported that the list includes the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, his deputies Khairat Al-Shater, Rashad Bayoumi, Mahmoud Ezzat and Gomaa Amin.
The list also includes Supreme Guidance bureau members Essam Al-Haddad, Mahmoud Ghozlan, Abdel Rahman Al-Bar and Mohey Hamed. Pakinam Al-Sharkawy, a political adviser of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, and leading Brotherhood figures Amr Darrag and Mohamed Ali Bishr were also included on the list.
Hanna said that several appeals have been filed, but that no decisions have been made
The committee also placed 87 Brotherhood-affiliated schools under the administrative and financial supervision of the Education Ministry, “the educational process in those schools won’t be affected,” Hanna said.
“A decision was made depending on whether a person is a member of a Muslim Brotherhood association, which was dissolved by the minister of Social Solidarity. We also made a decision based on security reports and reports from concerned ministries, such as the Education Ministry” Hanna said when asked about the ministry’s actions.
Hanna also confirmed the removal of three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – Egyptian Food Bank, Lamset Amal (A touch of hope) and Gawharet Al-Hamd (Praise Diamond) – from the list of 1,055 NGOs whose assets have been frozen, as they were proven to be unaffiliated with the Brotherhood.
The procedures are part of a government crackdown applied on the Brotherhood since the military-backed ouster of Morsi on 3 July. The crackdown peaked on 25 December when the Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organisation by the government.
