CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood leaders will stand in front of State Security Prosecution Tuesday to see if a court order for their release will be confirmed.
The North Cairo Criminal Court ordered on Sunday the release of prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood who have been detained by State Security since February.
Amongst the detainees whose release has been ordered are Deputy Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat and members of the newly appointed Guidance Office Essam El-Erian, Abdel-Rahman Al-Barr and Mohei Hamed, who was taken later as he wasn’t home when authorities came for him at dawn.
In addition, 12 Brotherhood members from the governorates were also given release orders. All but two of the detainees were handed release orders pending bail payments of LE 5,000 each.
El-Erian’s daughter-in-law told Daily News Egypt that due to the holiday of Sham El-Nessim Monday, the appearance of the detainees in front of the State Security Prosecution was delayed for one day.
The brotherhood members were taken as part of an investigation into what was known as the “Qutbi case, which is that certain members of the banned but tolerated group were following the edicts of late Islamic thinker and spiritual inspiration of the Brotherhood Sayed Qutb.
Brotherhood MP and member of the Guidance Office Saad El-Katatny told Daily News Egypt, “They should be released because it has been proven that there is no charge and no case. The court was not convinced and released them from the first time. We hope State Security will respect the decision of the judiciary and release them without reservations or further arrests like they have done in the past.
The arrests came soon after a new Supreme Guide – Mohamed Badie – had been appointed to lead the Brotherhood and a new Guidance Office had been put in place.
The group is considered illegal by the state, but enjoys a parliamentary presence where its members serve as independents. The Brotherhood is the largest opposition bloc in the People’s Assembly, with 88 seats.
The group has considered the latest crackdown as an attempt by the regime to weaken it ahead of the parliamentary elections due in October.
“Security bodies have always tried to pressure the Brotherhood by arresting its members thinking that this will affect its plans, El-Katatny said, “This year there will be important events like the parliamentary elections and next year the presidential elections.
“They’ve tried it many times and it hasn’t worked before, he added, “We are exercising our legal and constitutional rights and will continue to do so.
Prior to this recent spate of arrests, the Brotherhood had undergone an acrimonious changing of the guard when appointing a new Supreme Guide to replace Mohamed Mahdi Akef and a new Guidance Office, the highest ruling body in the group.
Ezzat is seen as the hardliner of the group, and his recent appointment as the Deputy Supreme Guide was seen as a victory for the hardliners against the more reformist members of the group, spear-headed by Abdel-Moneim Aboul-Futouh who wasn’t included in the new Guidance Office. El-Erian is the most prominent reformist to be included in the newly appointed Guidance Office.
