Prosecutors send files of 40 Islamists to military court

CAIRO: Prosecutors on Wednesday transferred the files of more than 40 opposition Islamists to a military court on terrorism and money-laundering charges, in a widening crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the group said. The move came a day after Egypt ordered high-ranking Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shatir, widely believed to be a key financier, and an unspecified number of others, to military justice whose rulings cannot be appealed. The men will be the first Brotherhood members to appear in military court since 2001. We will fight a legal battle by assembling a team of good lawyers to deal with the case, Mohamed Habib, the Brotherhood s deputy leader, said. True, the military judiciary does not give enough guarantees, but we will have at least a chance to defend them and discuss the charges, he added. The government has stepped up its crackdown on the Brotherhood since the group s strong showing in 2005 parliamentary elections, targeting its finances and arresting hundreds. The Brotherhood holds around a fifth of seats in parliament. Court sources said all 40 men were accused of financing the Brotherhood, which is officially banned in Egypt but had been tolerated by the government. Some 29 of the men were accused of money-laundering and 11, including El-Shatir, were also charged with using terrorism as a means to achieve their goals. Most of the men were in custody but eight were believed to be out of the country and would be tried in absentia, court sources said. El-Shatir, the Muslim Brotherhood s second deputy leader, has been in custody since Dec. 14 when he was detained by police following a protest by Islamist students at Al-Azhar University that infuriated the government. The protest, in which a group of Brotherhood students appeared wearing militia-style uniforms, prompted state media to say the Brotherhood was forming a militia. The Brotherhood denies the accusations.