The State Council’s administrative court issued a ruling Sunday compelling the government to unfreeze the funds and assets of the NGO Al-Jamia Al-Shariya.
The ruling revokes the decision to freeze the assets and funds of 138 local branches of the NGO by the Justice Ministry’s committee entitled to review Muslim Brotherhood assets and funds.
The committee that was formed following the ruling banning the once in power Muslim Brotherhood in September 2013, two months after the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi and the Brotherhood government.
In December of the same year, the committee announced freezing Al-Jamia Al-Shariya’s funds, claiming its affiliation to the Brotherhood.
The NGO filed lawsuits contesting the committee’s decision on the grounds that it is not affiliated to the Brotherhood, and earned a ruling from the administrative court to revoke the ban, as it stated that the ban from the committee is considered a violation of the judiciary’s authority.
However, the government did not implement the court’s ruling, instead appealing before the court of urgent matters, which ruled against the administrative court’s decision.
The administrative court stated Sunday that its ruling is binding to the cabinet, and that the urgent matters court is not entitled to decide on this case.
Earlier in March, Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly issued a decision to dissolve 112 NGOs affiliated with the Brotherhood.
In an official statement, Waly explained that “the decision comes in accordance with the court order that banned the Muslim Brotherhood and consequently ordered the banning of activities and confiscating properties of organisations affiliated with the group”.
The dissolution followed a similar decision in February from Waly to dissolve 169 Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated NGOs.
