Tag: dissolution

Market unaffected by confiscated Muslim Brotherhood assets: Economic expert

Since the establishment of the committee to assess and manage Muslim Brotherhood funds in October 2013, the assets and funds of 1,345 Brotherhood members have been confiscated.

This is in addition to 1,117 NGOs, 50 hospitals, 532 companies, two factories, 14 exchange offices and their branches, 522 headquarters offices, and 400 feddans of agricultural land. Furthermore, 103 schools owned by Muslim Brotherhood members have also been confiscated, and placed under the administration of the Ministry of Education.

The head of the committee, Ezzat Khamees, announced those figures at the committee’s latest press conference on 13 August. Khamees said that the committee has decided to confiscate the assets of Juhayna’s Chairman and CEO, Safwan Thabet, for his alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The decision excludes the assets of Juhayna Food Industries itself, as it is a joint stock company, with its ownership divided among several owners.

The Chairman of Juhayna, Egypt’s largest dairy products and juices producer, was also barred from trading on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) and had his shares frozen, according to state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram. Thabet has been Juhayna’s Chairman and CEO since the company’s founding in 1983.

“Based on past experience, these committees usually do not implement accurate investigations, and the judicial authorities might prevent them from undertaking the confiscations,” said Alia El-Mahdy, Professor of Economics at Cairo University.

Khairat Al-Shater, the business man and the Muslim brotherhood leader while he was opening “Zad” Supermarket in Nasr City in 2012.
(Photo by Mohamed Omar/File Photo)

El-Mahdy explained that the committee has to be qualified to deal with such cases, because the funds need to be properly administered.

“In any case, the owner of something is the best one to manage it,” added El-Mahdy.

Alternatively, over a year ago, the government seized the assets of two well-known supermarket chains, Zad, owned by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat El-Shater, and Seoudi. Police forces raided their stores and closed their branches.

The closures were interpreted as an attempt by the committee to limit Brotherhood funds and take custody of their finances and administration. This was seen as being part of an ongoing extensive investigation into the sources of funding for Brotherhood activities.

The supermarkets were reopened a few days later, with their financial administration placed under the supervision of the Egyptian Company for Wholesale Trade, a subsidiary of the state-owned Food Industries Holding Company (FIHC).

Economic expert Mokhtar El-Sherif told Daily News Egypt that there has been no perceived change in the market as a result of the aforementioned confiscations.

“There has been no effect on the market, because everything was left to operate as it had been before the confiscation happened,” El-Sherif said. “Even previous contracts that were concluded before the confiscation were still followed through.”

El-Sherif added that the committee clearly stated these moves were “confiscations” and not “transfers of ownership”. Therefore, to be placed under the supervision of a certain entity designated by the committee is only considered a change in the administration of the business. Until today, there have been no reported damages to trade relations or complaints from workers in these businesses, according to El-Sherif.

“Therefore, the ownership remains as it is, pending a judicial decision in the matter,” said El-Sherif.

Workers at a Seoudi market branch in Dokki were surprised by security forces forcing them outside and closed the shop for inspection in June, 2014.
(Photo by Amany Kamal)

Noaman Khalid, economist at Commercial International Asset Management (CI), raised the question of how the committee traces the ownership of capital.

“There is no manual according to which they operate, and there is a problem with regards to the categorisation of businesses/investments,” Khalid said.

Commenting on those incidents, he said that the management and ownership of these businesses were known to the government from the start. The timing of their actions, however, is significant, as it signals the political orientation of those in charge.

Regarding the cases of Seoudi and Zad, Khalid believes that when the police raided the branches and shut them down for several days, it sent a negative image to potential investors.

“The authorities have easy access to the management of those businesses and their bank accounts, so it could easily be dealt with in a direct manner with the business in question, without having to resort to exceptional measures like raiding the stores,” Khalid said.

This is not the first time in Egypt’s modern history that the government has confiscated businesses owned by Muslim Brotherhood members. In February 1992, security forces raided Salsabeel Company for computer services, owned by then Brotherhood leaders Khairat El-Shater and Hassan Malek. As part of the raids, the security forces arrested El-Shater and closed the company.

“During [Gamal Abdel] Nasser’s days, everything that was taken by the state was very poorly managed,” El-Mahdy said. “It largely depends on the nature of the committee itself.”

Judge Wadie Hanna, former member of the committee, expressed his legal perspective on the status of the committee, saying that the committee’s existence has become irrelevant since the anti-terrorism law has been issued.

“Such cases now lie under the jurisdiction of the general prosecution, according to the new anti-terrorism law, and the Muslim Brotherhood shall be treated according to that law since it is a terrorist group,” said Hanna.

Brotherhood-affiliated NGOs facing dissolution and administrative change

Since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, hundreds of Brotherhood-affiliated NGOs have been targeted by the Ministry of Social Solidarity amid a massive security crackdown on the group and its activities. The targeted NGOs and charity organisations were either completely dissolved or had their administrative boards replaced, while continuing their operation.

In July, 14 civil society organisations were shut down by the Ministry of Social Solidarity for links to members of the Muslim Brotherhood. A decision was issued in February to dissolve 169 NGOs from nine governorates across Egypt, including Assiut, Sohag, Aswan, the New Valley, Kafr El-Sheikh, Ismailia, Alexandria, Damietta and Qaliubiya.

Orders to shut down NGOs across Egypt’s governorates came from Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali. Hundreds of civil society organisations have been dissolved for their alleged affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood. The government’s ongoing crackdown against Brotherhood-related activities, particularly NGOs and charity organisations, has had far-reaching negative effects on the communities that relied on these organisations for financial or in-kind assistance, according to the Brotherhood spokesperson’s statements.

Background

In September 2013, the North Cairo Criminal Court upheld a decision by the prosecutor general to freeze assets of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders, along with several other Islamist politicians.

One month later, a government committee formed by the Ministry of Justice was tasked with assessing the Brotherhood’s financial resources. The committee has frozen the assets of hundreds of Brotherhood members, NGOs and companies affiliated to the group. A court ruling following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 banned the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities in Egypt. Later, the group was designated as a terrorist organisation.

The Court of Urgent Matters also ordered the confiscation of “all real estate funds, liquid and transmitted, whether owned by or leased to the Muslim Brotherhood”.The court ruling had raised questions about its potential effects on Brotherhood-owned business, especially as it targets the organisation’s capital.

Among the 1,345 members of the group whose money the government decided to confiscate, are former president Mohamed Morsi, and businessmen Khairat El-Shater and Abdel Rahman Al-Seoudi.

September 9, 2015
Lawsuit demands banning ‘Rabaa’ slogan in elections

The Administrative Court postponed to Tuesday a lawsuit that calls for disqualifying candidates who raise the ‘Rabaa sign’ or use the ‘Rabaa’ slogan in any media channel as part of their electoral campaign, state media reported.

The lawsuit, filed by Lawyer Ali Ayuob, considered the ‘Rabaa’ sign a slogan of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. The sign refers to the pro-Mohamed Morsi Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in that was forcefully dispersed in August 2013, claiming the lives of hundreds.

The lawsuit is filed against the head of the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC). It mentions that the presence of Brotherhood members in the parliament poses a threat to national security “as it upsets the Egyptian people who carried out the 30 June revolution and sacrificed many martyrs to remove their regime from power”.

The lawsuit is premised on Article 237 of the Egyptian constitution, which stipulates: “The state shall fight all types and forms of terrorism, and track its funding sources as a threat to the nation and its citizens, within a specific timeframe, while guaranteeing basic rights and freedoms.”

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation in December 2013, and its members are banned from running in elections or participating in political activities.

Much of its leadership are currently held in Egyptian detention facilities and face multiple trials on charges that include treason and murder.

The political wing of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), was dissolved by an order from the Supreme Administrative Court in August 2014.

The court decision to ban the party came at the official request of the committee governing the activities of political parties. The ruling to dissolve the party also ordered the seizure of FJP property and finances.

The SEC announced that parliamentary elections will start in October, and will be divided over two phases. Accordingly, the parliament will be established before the end of the current year.

Following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, a security crackdown ensued that includes arrest campaigns and banning Brotherhood-affiliated organisations. Hundreds are behind bars, either serving sentences or awaiting trial.

The sit-ins organised by Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters in Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Nahda Squares following his ouster were forcibly dispersed by security forces on 14 August 2013. The dispersal was followed by mass arrests.

Since then, ‘Rabaa’ became a symbol of resistance for those who took part in the protests and sit-ins that followed the military-backed ouster of Mohamed Morsi.

September 7, 2015
Political parties seek ‘immunity from dissolution’ for next parliament

Egyptian politicians demanded legal guarantees that the upcoming parliament cannot be dissolved. “(DNE / FILE PHOTO / Hassan Ibrahim)

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received Sunday the “unified project”, a proposal of legal amendments to the laws related to parliamentary elections, by nearly 30 political parties who have concluded a three-day workshop, the Conservative Party announced.

Egyptian politicians demanded legal guarantees that the upcoming parliament cannot be dissolved. “This can be achieved through an amendment in the law regulating the work of the Supreme Constitutional Court,” said Yehia Qadry, a legal expert and vice-president of the National Movement Party.

“All decisions by the SCC are retroactive under the current system,” Kadry explained in statements to Daily News Egypt. Kadry said if the law was passed before elections, the next parliament would be immune to dissolution.

Egypt’s post-30 June parliament has been pending proper laws and legislations. Former interim president Adly Mansour issued two of the three laws. Al-Sisi then issued the electoral districts law, which was ruled unconstitutional.

The initiative was launched by right-wing politicians, led by the Conservative Party. The party asserted it was not planning to produce parallel amendments to those done by the governmental committee, but to “help” protect the elections laws from potential unconstitutionality.

The idea is based on the events that led to the suspension of election. In February, a commission of SCC-affiliated senior judgesapproved several lawsuits demanding the annulment of parliamentary laws due to unconstitutional content.

The fact that the SCC took into account the commission’s recommendations was considered by politicians as a pre-monitoring role, which is the idea of securing laws and legislations from constitutional defects.

The participation of main political parties, such as Al-Wafd, Al-Nour, the Egyptian Social Democratic, the Conference and the National Movement parties, lacked an important political party, the Free Egyptians Party (FEP), led by business tycoon Naguib Sawiris.

“We would rather wait for the new law, amended by professional experts, working based on recommendations, revised by the State Council, and we trust the outcome of their efforts,” Shehab Waguih, spokesperson for the FEP party explained.

Another significant change political parties demanded was to decrease the expense limit for electoral campaigns from EGP 500,000 to EGP 200,000.

Two previous parliaments were dissolved in Egyptian history on grounds of unconstitutionality. The first dissolution was by Hosni Mubarak in 1987, three years after it was established and two years before it was to be renewed.

The second parliament annulment took place under Mohamed Morsi’s regime. Nonetheless, Morsi challenged SCC twice, first by calling the parliament to hold its regular session after SCC’s rule, then by announcing in a constitutional declaration that his decisions regarding parliamentary affairs were immune to the SCC.

The declaration, which included other similar decisions and gave the president absolute power, was followed by polarised popular demonstrations in front of the Itihadiya Palace, which resulted in clashes and killings.

May 17, 2015
Court rules ‘lack of jurisdiction’ over Al-Nour Party dissolution

The chamber of political parties’ affairs at the High Administrative Court ruled its lack of jurisdiction in the lawsuit filed to dissolve the Salafist Al-Nour Party.
(AFP/file Photo)

The chamber of political parties’ affairs at the High Administrative Court ruled its lack of jurisdiction in the lawsuit filed to dissolve the Salafist Al-Nour Party.

The court ruling ordered for the case to be returned to the Administrative Court for consideration and adjudication.

The lawsuit demanded the dissolution of Al-Nour Party on the basis of violating the provisions of Article 74 of the Egyptian Constitution, as the party is established on religious grounds.

Article 74 states: “All citizens have the right to form political parties by notification as regulated by law. No political activity may be practiced and no political parties may be formed on the basis of religion or discrimination based on sex, or origin, or on sectarian basis or geographic location.”

The article however proceeds that a court ruling is required for political parties to be dissolved.

Al-Nour Party Spokesperson Nader Bakar told Daily News Egypt that the party’s legal committee reiterated that its legal position is “intact”. He added that lawyers who filed the lawsuit “lack understanding of the provisions of the constitution”.

Bakar noted that the party is established on a religious basis, “just as the constitution” is. However, it is not based on religious or racial discrimination, and “so it doesn’t violate the law”.

The party is to participate in the coming parliamentary elections, it’s already “settled”, added Bakar.

This is not the first lawsuit filed against the party. Similar lawsuits were ruled upon by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters and the Alexandria Court for Urgent Matters, both of which ruled their lack of jurisdiction over the case.

Bakar said that “this is another victory for Al-Nour Party”.

The parliamentary elections were set to take place in March. However, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) deemed the Electoral Districts Law “unconstitutional” in March, causing the postponement of the elections.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb announced earlier in April that the elections are to commence before Ramadan in mid-June.

April 18, 2015
Court decides on legitimacy of ’religiously-affiliated parties’

The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court started looking on Wednesday into a lawsuit filed by Tarek Mahmoud, legal advisor for the Popular Front against the “Brotherhoodisation” of Egypt.

Mahmoud’s lawsuit, filed under Article 74 of the constitution, calls for the dissolution of all political parties founded on a religious basis.

This article states that all citizens have the right to form political parties as regulated by law, but adds: “No political activity may be practiced and no political parties may be formed on the basis of religion or discrimination based on sex, or origin, or on sectarian basis or geographic location.”

It also constitutes that “no activity that is hostile to democratic principles, secretive, or of military or quasi-military nature may be practiced.”

Mahmoud stated in his lawsuit that eleven political parties including Al- Nour Party, Al-Asala party, Building and Development Party, Al-Islah wa Al- Nahda , Misr Al-Qawia, and Al-Wasat party are all established on religious basis which contradicts the constitution.

The urgency in this case however is justified by the “imminent danger” facing the nation in case members of the mentioned parties run for the parliamentary elections. The lawsuit also expressed concern over the part they may play in legislative authority which “will form a serious threat on the country”.

The lawsuit proceeds to say that the mentioned parties “exploit religion to reach their goals, and some of them believe that what happened in Egypt was a military coup.”

In addition, the lawsuit added that if parliamentary seats were taken by these parties, they will subject the parliament to the risk of being “unconstitutional”. This may create the possibility of its dissolution as well.

Alaa Essam, Al-Tagammu Party attorney, said that the party is supporting any lawsuit against the religious parties in a political disguise.

In case the lawsuit was rejected, it is expected that these parties will gain very little public support, winning no more than 20% of seats, said Essam.

Ahmed Imam, a Misr Al-Qawia (Strong Egypt Party) spokesman, said the party was established based under Article 2 of the constitution, which declares Islam to be the state religion, and that “it’s not a religious party”. He said the claim was filed without previous knowledge of the nature of the party.

Imam added that he expects the lawsuit to be rejected, as the party operates according to the law.

Sayed Khalifa, vice president of Al-Nour Party, said a party established on a religious basis and which discriminates between people according to their religion, sex or sectarian basis. He added that this is not the case with the Al-Nour Party.

Khalifa noted that the legislation in Egypt as constituted by the law has to be based on religion.

However, Amira Al Adly, a member of the supreme committee of Free Egyptians Party, said the establishment of parties on religious basis is prohibited by the constitution. She added that she supports the lawsuit as she is against the exploitation of religion.

Al Adly noted that Free Egyptians Party’s principals are based on the establishment of a civil state rather than on a religious basis.

Mahmoud said that the case was postponed until the first of October to involve the chairman of the Supreme Elections Committee that will oversee the upcoming parliamentary elections.

September 3, 2014
Muslim Brotherhood becomes an NGO

The Muslim Brotherhood announced that it legalised its status by establishing an NGO under the same name.
(Photo by: Mohamed Omar)

Hours after the State Commissioner’s Authority issued a recommendation to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, the Brotherhood announced it legalised its status.

Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsood stated that the Brotherhood has established a non-governmental organisation under the same name numbered 644 for the year 2013.

“The decision to turn the Brotherhood into an NGO came to prevent those waiting to get back at the Brotherhood from making their move,” said Mokhtar Al-Ashry, legal advisor of the Freedom and Justice Party; the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing.

Al-Ashry stated that the Brotherhood now resembles any other non-governmental organisation, legally speaking. According to Egypt’s civil society law, the budgets of all non-governmental organisations are to be reviewed and observed by the state.

“The organisation is a central one,” said Al-Ashry. “It will sponsor cultural, Da’wah and human rights activities nationwide.”

Al-Ashry denied that the organisation would participate in any illegal activities. According to the law, partisan activities and syndicate activities are both prohibited for non-governmental organisations, Al-Ashry said.

He stated that in light of announcing the Muslim Brotherhood as a non-governmental organisation, dissolving it has become impossible.

Lawyer Shehata Mohamed Shehata said that legalising the Brotherhood’s status is “non-sense”. “There’s no way that the Brotherhood created by Hassan Al-Banna in 1928 can become legal again,” Shehata said.

He said that law number 84 for civil society gives non-governmental organisations only one year after their establishment to legalise their status. “The Brotherhood has undoubtedly exhausted this deadline,” Shehata said. He added that the only way for the Brotherhood to become legal is for its non-governmental organisation to be a new, separate entity; not a continuation of the 85-year-old entity.

“I believe the Brotherhood announced the organisation in fear of Friday’s protests,” said Shehata. Protests this Friday are headed towards the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Moqattam to denounce the attack on journalists and political activists which took place last Saturday outside the headquarters. “Some protesters threatened to break into the headquarters within the context of the Brotherhood being illegal and thus its headquarters are not legally protected.”

In 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide then Omar Al-Telmesani challenged the court ruling of dissolving the Brotherhood in 1954. The court ruled on the case in 1992, turning down the challenge and ratifying the 1954 ruling, said Shehata.

“The 1956 constitution stated that any decisions issued by the Revolution’s steering committee are irreversible,” said Shehata, explaining the reason for turning down the challenge. “Dissolving the Brotherhood was one of those decisions.”

The Brotherhood appealed the court’s decision in 1992. The case was resurrected with Wednesday’s recommendation by the State Commissioners’ Authority.

Shehata filed another lawsuit requesting that the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities be banned based on its dissolution in 1954. The final verdict on the case is expected to come out on Tuesday.

“The State Commissioners’ Authority’s recommendation reinforces our position,” Shehata said.

March 21, 2013
Constituent Assembly faces dissolution on Tuesday

Crowd gather outside the Administrative Judiciary Court in Cairo where a critical ruling on Tuesday may result in the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (photo: Mohamed Omar)

The paralysis in Egypt’s Parliament may soon by joined by the troubling developments in the Constituent Assembly, including its possible total dissolution this Tuesday.

“The Constituent Assembly will be disbanded on Tuesday by the Administrative Court,” said Cassation Court lawyer Mohammed Abdel-Rahman. He said the “Constituent Assembly is void, and that is why it will be disbanded.”

If the assembly is disbanded it would further throw Egypt’s transitional process into more disarray, challenging President Mohamed Morsy to find a solution with the limited powers granted to him by the ruling generals.

The Administrative Judiciary Court was set to rule on the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly last week, instead it postponed its ruling to September, only to bring the final ruling forward again to this Tuesday. Abdel-Rahman said the court must have its reasons for moving the ruling from September to Tuesday.

“Perhaps, a more balanced Constituent Assembly will be formed next time,” he said. It is expected that if the Constituent Assembly is disbanded, a new one will be formed at the hands of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces.

The assembly has engaged in drafting controversial and critical articles of Egypt’s new Constitution, which will be the foundation legal document of Egyptian political life. The third article of the Egyptian constitution garnered media attention recently, when members of the constituent assembly demanded changing the third article to that of the 1971 constitution.

The third article originally read, “Sovereignty is for the people alone and they are the source of authority.” Salafist members of the Constituent Assembly demanded the article be amended to read, “Sovereignty is for God and He gave it to the people for He is the source of all authorities.”

However not all Salafists agreed on the change. The head of the Salafist Nour Party, Emad Abdul-Ghaffour told Shorouk newspaper, “there is no reason for that change….the issue of sovereignty being to God is known.”

Abdel-Rahman, similarly felt that the reworded amendment was not needed.

“Sovereignty to the people has to be in the constitution but sovereignty to God, does not,” Abdel-Rahman said. He explained that the majority of Egyptians are religious and so “sovereignty to God” is a given, he described it as “eternal.”

“Sovereignty to the people must be added because in the constitution you have to include values and principles that we all need to be reminded of,” Abdel-Rahman said.

Professor of law at the American University in Cairo, Amr Shalakany said the change to the third article on its own will not make sense.

“On its own, it’s meaningless, but it makes sense when you relate it to the second article which gives the competent authority to Al-Azhar rather than the Supreme Constitutional Court,” Shalakany said.

The second article of the constitution which Shalakany referred to, now reads “Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic its official language, the principles of Islamic Shari’a are the main source of legislation, the honourable Azhar is the final source of its interpretation ….”

According to Shalakany, laws will have to go through Al-Azhar “who have to see that they conform to the Shari’a (Islamic Law) before they approve them.”

Shalakany described Al-Azhar as an unreformed institution in dire need of reform. He also said there was a need to correct the misconceptions among Egyptians about Azhar being a moderate institution. Shlakany described Azhar as “very conservative.”

“It is not a progressive institution and it is only viewed as moderate because people are comparing it to the Salafists,” he explained.

Abdel-Rahman reiterated that “unfortunately, all of the discussion on the constitution is taking a political rather than legal aspect,” which is why he believes on Tuesday, based on his own legal experience, the Constituent Assembly will be disbanded by the Administrative Judiciary Court.

Regarding the possible disbanding of the constituent assembly, Shalakany said “we will have to accept what the court decides.”

July 15, 2012