The Administrative Court has postponed a ruling on the legality of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, until 10 December, in order to review the report by the board of state commissioners.
In its legal opinion submitted to the Administrative Court, the board of state commissioners recommended that the court issue a ruling terminating the Muslim Brotherhood association, which was formed during Morsi’s presidency in March of 2013.
The board asked the court for the “dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, appointing a liquidator to apply the laws pursuant to Article 44 and Article 45 of Law No. 84 for the year 2002 on associations and NGOs. Article 44 states that should an association be terminated “its administrators are obligated to hand over their capital, all documents, records and papers to the liquidator as soon as requested.”
The commissioners responsible for the review of the Muslim Brotherhood association were Justice Islam Al Shahat and Justice Youssef Taha who explained in their report that “the acts performed within the association’s headquarters are prohibited under law of associations while this association is guilty of possession of firearms and the discharge of weapons.”
The Egyptian State council is separated into three branches, the judicial branch, the legislative branch and the advisory opinion branch. The board of commissioners is a subsection of the judicial branch of the Egyptian state council and specialises in investigating reports regarding the legality of certain associations.
The Muslim Brotherhood association was established March 2013 during which the previous minister for Insurance and Social Affairs, Nagwa Khalil, released a statement explaining that the association had completed all requirements to become a legal organisation.
A lawsuit was filed against the Muslim Brotherhood association on 23 April, by ex-member of parliament Hamdi Fakharani and Mostafa Shaaban, disputing its legality. The lawsuit stated that the decision to adopt the association was issued without the required security investigations to examine whether the Muslim Brotherhood were in fact working fully in politics or engaging in armed activities, also whether they were engaging in activities that would threaten national unity and security.
According to state-owned-MENA, within the recommendation, the board of commissioners explained that the Muslim Brotherhood Association is present in Mokatam and hold’s the title of “the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, with another alias, the guidance office.” The report included that in the Prosecutor General office’s referral orders that were issued after the clashes on 1 July, it was mentioned that within the Brotherhood’s headquarters there “were shots fired, while members within possessed prohibited firearms”. This information was also confirmed by the Ministry of Interior.
The report also noted that the association clearly breached Article 11 and 42 of the association law, which states that it is “prohibited to have military formations, or configurations of a military nature” in combination with “the exercise of political activities.”
The report also included that the Muslim Brotherhood association were legalised in approximately 24 hours, which “raises suspicion.”
