CAIRO: The appeal trial of 18 Muslim Brotherhood members will begin on Oct. 27 in a military court, the group’s lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud said.
The 18 members are part of a group of 25 who were tried in a military court in 2007 and who received jail sentences ranging from three to 10 years.
Abdel Maqsoud said he is only appealing the verdicts of the 18 who are currently in prison, but not the seven who were convicted in absentia.
He first filed for the appeal in August 2008.
“I was only notified of the date of the appeal trial last week, he said.
Chief financier of the Brotherhood Khairat El-Shater is among the 18 appealing the verdict, according to Abdel-Maqsoud.
In July 2007, 25 leading Brotherhood members received jail sentences after they were found guilty by a military court of financing the illegal group as well as money laundering.
The seven members who were tried in absentia received 10-year jail sentences.
The military tribunal had raised several due-process concerns and attracted international condemnation because the men were acquitted of the same charges before a civilian court, only to be rearrested inside the court room and immediately re-charged with the same crimes before a military court.
