(AFP FILE PHOTO SAID KHATIB)
The plaintiff behind the case to designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation has decided to drop his case, resulting in the possible annulment of the verdict that convicted the Palestinian group.
Lawyer Samir Sabry dropped Friday the case he filed against the group that controls the Gaza Strip. He said his decision came so as “not to be an obstacle before the Egyptian political leadership to resume its pioneering role in the Palestinian reconciliation file”.
The lawsuit filed by Sabry and lawyer Ashraf Said Ibrahim claimed Hamas is responsible for a number of killings of Egyptian security force personnel.
On 28 February, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters designated Hamas a “terrorist organisation”. The verdict sparked angry reactions from the Palestinian side. However, the State Litigation Authority appealed the verdict on 11 March.
The ruling brought angry reactions from Hamas officials as they described designating their group as terrorist a “judicial farce” and a “disgrace”.
The Urgent Matters Appeal Court announced Saturday it will issue a verdict on the appeal on 10 May, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
“Dropping the lawsuit means the verdict is invalid,” Deputy-head of the State Litigation Authority told Daily News Egypt.
Although the court did not overturn its previous ruling yet, Hamas expressed Friday on Twitter that it welcomed “the Egyptian court’s decision to drop the ruling”.
At the same time, The European Union (EU) re-enlisted Hamas as a terrorist organisation after the group was temporarily removed from the terrorist organisations list in December.
The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council decided Thursday to re-enlist the group as the council appeals a previous ruling to remove the group, according to a statement by the council’s spokeswoman Susanne Kiefer.
