Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa North

Cairo sentences 25 to 15 years in prison, acquits 12 in Rabaa dispersal case

2022-05-14

[AlAhram] A Cairo criminal court has sentenced 25 people to 15 years in prison, one juvenile to five years, and acquitted 12 others in a retrial of the case known in media as “the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in case.”

These sentences are only preliminary, leading to years more of retrials before anything is finalized. Hence the Page 2: WoT Background designation,

The defendants were charged with several crimes that took place in August 2013, including the premeditated murder of civilians as well as policemen who were tasked with dispersing a sit-in in Cairo’s Rabaa square, which has been renamed Hisham Barakat Square.

The defendants were also charged with attempted murder, blocking roads, destroying public property, and possessing firearms and Molotov cocktails.

The case, which involves more than 700 defendants including fugitives, dates back to the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in that was held by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in August 2013.

The dispersal left hundreds dead and thousands arrested on a variety of charges. It also unleashed days of nationwide street clashes and attacks on security installations.

In June last year, Egypt’s Court of Cassation upheld the death penalty for 12 people in the case, Mohamed El-Beltagy, Safwat Hegazy, and Abdel-Rahman El-Bar, three key leading members of the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood.

The country's top appeals court also commuted in June the death penalty for 31 others in the same case to life imprisonment, but upheld prison sentences ranging from five to 25 years for 277 others.

The cassation court also upheld a 10-year prison sentence against Osama, the son of ousted President Morsi.

Criminal proceedings against another key Brotherhood figure, Essam El-Erian, were abated after his death in custody in August 2020. El-Erian had received a final death penalty in the case.

In 2018, a Cairo Criminal Court issued preliminary death sentences for 75 members of the Brotherhood in a mass trial in the case. Several defendants, including Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, were handed life imprisonment sentences in the case.

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Africa North

Court jails Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader for life

2018-08-14

CAIRO (Reuters) - The head of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and other leaders of the banned group were sentenced to life in prison on Sunday, judicial sources said, on charges of incitement to murder and violence during protests five years ago.

The sentence is the latest among several trials and re-trials against Mohamed Badie and other senior leaders of the party that ruled Egypt before the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi following mass protests.

The sources told Reuters that Giza Criminal Court sentenced several top leaders including Badie, group spokesman Essam al-Erian, and senior member Mohamed El-Beltagy to life terms.

State news agency MENA said another defendant was jailed for 15 years and three others for 10 years.

Badie and the other defendants were convicted of incitement to violence on July 15, 2013, including the killing of five demonstrators and wounding of 100 during protests in an area in Giza known as al-Bahr al-Azim.

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Africa North

Brotherhood leader, cleric sentenced to 20 years in jail

2014-09-10

[Dhaka Tribune] An Egyptian court sentenced a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and an Islamist cleric to 20 years in prison yesterday for attempting to kill two policemen, part of a government crackdown that has severely weakened the group.

Mohamed El-Beltagy and cleric Safwat Hegazy were convicted of detaining and attempting to kill the policemen during protests against the military's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3, 2013.

The demonstrations at Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya were crushed by security forces, who killed hundreds of people.

Egyptian officials, who call the Brotherhood a terrorist group, have repeatedly said that some protesters were armed and fired at police and soldiers.

Two doctors who treated wounded protesters at a field hospital during the clashes, Mohammed Zenati and Azim Mohammed, were sentenced to 15 years each on the same charges.
The ghosts of Raphael Sabatini and Judge Jeffreys are watching this one with interest.
Like many Brotherhood leaders, Beltagy faces several legal cases.

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Africa North

Egypt court sentences 10 Brüderbunders to death

2014-06-08

An Egyptian court sentenced 10 supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death in absentia on Saturday, but postponed sentencing of the movement's leader and other senior members on trial in the same case, judicial sources said.

Those sentenced were convicted on charges including inciting violence and blocking a major road north of Cairo during protests after the army toppled President Mohammed Mursi last July. All 10 were assumed to be in hiding amid a state crackdown on the group since Mursi's ouster. One of those sentenced was Abdul Rahman Al Barr, a member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Council, the movement's executive board.

Death sentence recommendations in Egypt are passed on to the country's Mufti, the highest religious authority. His opinion can be ignored by the court. The rulings can be appealed.

Judge Hassan Fareed said the verdict for the rest of the defendants would be announced at a hearing on July 5.

Those 38 defendants include the Brotherhood movement's General Guide Mohamed Badie and senior member Mohamed El Beltagy, along with former ministers from Mursi's government. Badie was among 683 people sentenced to death in April.

Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and members of the security forces have been killed since Mursi's ouster. Secular activists are also in jail. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said last month 16 journalists were imprisoned in Egypt.

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Africa North

Verdict in Muslim Brotherhood dissolution case set for 23 September

2013-09-22

[Al Ahram] A Cairo court has scheduled 23 September for a verdict in a lawsuit demanding the dissolution of the 85-year-old Moslem Brüderbund group and the confiscation of its leaders' funds.

The lawsuit, filed by the leftist Tagammu Party, demands a ban on any Moslem Brüderbund activity in the country and a freeze on its finances.

Egyptian authorities have launched a crackdown against the group following the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi -- who hails from the group -- by the military 3 July following mass protests against him and Brotherhood rule.

The group's spiritual leader, Mohamed Badie, and most of the group's high and mid-level ranks have been jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
and mostly face charges of inciting violence against their opponents.

On 14 July, Egyptian prosecutors froze the assets of senior several Brotherhood leaders and other prominent Islamists as part of investigations into the incitement of violence at protests.

Badie, deputy supreme guide Khairat El-Shater, Secretary General Ezzat Ibrahim and senior member Mohamed El-Beltagy are among 14 prominent Islamists targeted by authorities.

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Africa North

Autopsy of Republican Guards club victims : Shot by live ammunition

2013-09-09

[Al Ahram] Heliopolis Prosecution has received the final autopsy report regarding the victims that were killed during clashes at the Republican Guards club last July.

According to the report, the victims were shot in the head and stomach by live ammunition and suffered from internal bleeding that led to their death.
"Live ammunition" as opposed to? Blanks? Dead ammunition?
The report also added that some of the victims died within minutes of being shot in the head and heart, whilst others passed away after being transferred to hospital.

On 8 July 2013, clashes erupted between Egypt's armed forces and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, resulting in the death of 53 citizens and the injury of 100 more.

The Heliopolis Prosecution office asked forensics at the criminal lab to hurry in issuing the report concerning weapons and bullet casings used, as evidence in ongoing investigations.

Egypt's armed forces have accused the Muslim brotherhood of trying to storm the Republican Guards headquarters.

Several prominent Muslim brotherhood figures, including Mohamed El-Beltagy, and Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy, are being accused of inciting the attack against security forces - police and army - at the Republican Guards club.

Meanwhile, Eastern Cairo Prosecution continues to question 700 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters, tens of whom have been accused of incitement to violence and murder, both outside the Presidential Guards club and during another violent clash with security forces at the Unknown Soldier memorial.

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Africa North

Brotherhood's Badie referred to criminal court for Giza clashes

2013-09-09

[Al Ahram] Egypt's prosecutor-general Hesham Barakat has referred Moslem Brüderbund Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 14 others to the criminal court for alleged involvement in 15 July Giza festivities that left five dead.

Badie was referred to court along with leading Brotherhood members Mohamed El-Beltagy, Bassem Ouda and Essam El-Erian - the latter has not yet been tossed in the calaboose
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
- in addition to Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy and leading member of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Assem Abd El-Magued, who is also still to on the lam, and nine others.

The prosecution accused Badie, El-Beltagy, El-Erian, Abd El-Magued and Hegazy of 'inciting violence and terrorism, murder, forming a gang to attack citizens and supplying it with arms and funds.'

The remaining suspects were accused of 'terrorising, crowding, murder, joining a group that attacked citizens, damaging private property and possessing arms.'

Five were killed in Al-Bahr Al-Azam area of Giza and in the vicinity of the nearby Cairo University, during fire-fights that broke out between pro-Morsi protesters and unknown assailants late on 15 July.

Two other people were killed in the Ramses area, downtown Cairo, in similar festivities that day.

Badie, along with six other leading members of the Brotherhood, are currently on trial facing charges of allegedly 'inciting murder' in festivities at the Brotherhood's headquarters in Moqattam, Cairo, on 30 June.

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Africa North

Egypt prosecution orders release of son of Brotherhood leader El-Beltagy

2013-08-26

[Al Ahram] Beni Suef prosecution has decided to release the son of Moslem Brüderbund big shot Mohamed El-Beltagy on Sunday, several hours after his arrest, as no charges have been brought against him.

Ammar, 20 years-old, was tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
on Sunday as part of a large-scale crackdown on the Islamist Moslem Brüderbund group.

Along with three other sons of Brotherhood leaders, Ammar El-Beltagy was rounded up in Beni Suef Governorate, south of Cairo, according to security sources. His father, who was issued an arrest warrant for allegations including terrorising people, torture and murder, is still in hiding, as is fellow leading Brotherhood member Essam El-Erian.

Mohamed El-Beltagy's 17 year-old daughter Asmaa was killed in a bloody police raid on a pro-Morsi protest camp in east Cairo on 14 August, which left hundreds dead and sparked days of violent festivities, pitting Islamists against security forces.

Beni Suef prosecution decided to detain four other members of the Moslem Brüderbund for four days, pending investigation, according to Al-Ahram's Arabic site.

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Africa North

Egypt's interior minister denies arrest of Brotherhood leaders Beltagi, Erian

2013-08-15

[Al Ahram] Egypt's Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim has denied reports saying that some influential Moslem Brüderbund leaders were tossed in the slammer
Please don't kill me!
in the wake of Wednesday's violence after police cleared two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza.

"Those claims are totally untrue. I hope that I will be able to capture them," Ibrahim told a news conference on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, a security source told Ahram Online that eight Brotherhood leaders jugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
'>were tossed into the calaboose during the dispersal operation before escaping "with the help of other people."

Earlier on Wednesday, Influential Brotherhood figures Mohamed El-Beltagy and Essam El-Erian and Islamic preacher Safwat Hegazy were reportedly among the detained -- all wanted by Egypt prosecutors to answer to allegations of inciting violence.

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Africa North

Egypt clashes leave 43 security personnel killed: MOI

2013-08-15

[Al Ahram] Egyptian Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim held a presser Wednesday after the main sit-ins of supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo and Giza were cleared.

According to Ibrahim, violence nationwide left at least 43 members of the police potted - 18 officers and 25 soldiers - and 211 injured. He added that 21 cop shoppes were raided by supporters of the Brotherhood Wednesday.

Kerdasa cop shoppe in Giza was attacked using rocket-propelled grenades and two coppers were killed.

"Many protesters fired excessively from roof tops [at Rabaa sit-in in Nasr City] on security forces," said Ibrahim, claiming that security forces "only used tear gas to disperse the protests."

Ibrahim, who described pro-Morsi protesters as an "armed gang," said scores of weapons were confiscated during the dispersal, including grenades, guns and bullet-proof vests.

He added that at least seven churches were destroyed or torched Wednesday by suspected Islamists.

When asked about newly established sit-ins by the Brotherhood, Ibrahim said that both the police and army would disperse any new assemblies in accordance with the law.

Following the dispersal, several pro-Morsi protesters camped in front of Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Giza's Mohandiseen district.

Ibrahim also denied media reports of the arrest of eight Moslem Brüderbund leaders, including Mohamed El-Beltagy and Safwat Hegazy.

He further criticised "the exaggerated numbers of those slain announced by some media," affirming that security forces were determined to keep the casualities as low as possible.

At least 150 civilians were been killed in Wednesday's violence, according to the Ministry of Health. The Moslem Brüderbund has claimed the corpse count has exceeded 2000.

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Africa North

103 'terrorists' arrested, 60 killed in Sinai security crackdown

2013-08-08

[Al Ahram] Army front man Ahmed Ali released a statement Wednesday with the results of the police and army's crackdown on "terrorism and jihadists" in Sinai from the period 5 July to 4 August.

The statement, released on Ali's official Facebook page, says that the crackdown resulted in apprehending 227 individuals -- 103 of which were placed in durance vile
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
and 124 are either dead or injured.

The 103 individuals arrested, from across Sinai, are currently being interrogated. From among the 124, 60 were killed in festivities between security forces, while 64 were maimed.

Sinai has suffered a security vacuum since the January 2011 uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
's regime. The situation escalated with the ouster of Moslem Brüderbund-backed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi 3 July. Militants have attacked police and security forces on a daily basis in response to Morsi's overthrow.

Ali also announced that 102 tunnels between Egypt and the Gazoo Strip have been destroyed. The tunnels, according to the statement, were used as an entry point by terrorists, as well as for smuggling weapons, drugs and cars, among others things.

The UN released a statement late July claiming that the army's crackdown closed 80 percent of Gazoo's tunnels, many of which have been used to smuggle basic necessities into Gazoo, leaving the UN concerned "that already difficult economic and humanitarian conditions in Gazoo will further deteriorate."

Ali also stated that 40 petroleum tanks containing 2.7 million litres of gas and diesel, intended to be smuggled into Gazoo, have been destroyed.

The armed forces have also destroyed four houses that reportedly sheltered terrorists. The Death Eaters allegedly used the houses to initiate attacks on security forces.

Some 38 cars reportedly used by Death Eaters to carry weapons have been seized by authorities.

The army statement comes hours after the murder of a Mubarak-era parliamentarian by unknown assailants in Sinai. Attackers fired from a moving vehicle four bullets at Abdel Hamid Silmi, 58, as he left a mosque early Wednesday after dawn prayers.

Members of Silmi's prominent Fawakhreya tribe gathered amid a charged atmosphere at Al-Arish General Hospital, where Silmi was moved following the shooting outside Abu-Bakr Al-Seddiq Mosque.

According to Rooters, 40 people have been killed by forces of Evil attacking security checkpoints since Morsi's ouster.

Critics of the Moslem Brüderbund accuse the group of instigating violence in Sinai -- charges much repeated after senior Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagy stated last month that violence in Sinai would immediately end should Morsi be reinstated.

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Africa North

Egypt prosecutor orders arrest of Brotherhood figures

2013-07-16

[Al Ahram] Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the arrest of seven senior Moslem Brüderbund and Islamist figures on Monday over charges of violence between Brotherhood supporters and opponents in the days before and after Mohamed Morsi was deposed as president.

The list includes leading Brotherhood figures Essam El-Erian and Mohamed El-Beltagy, both of whom were attending a demonstration on Monday, according to the Brotherhood.

El-Erian and El-Beltagy were included in a similar list last week of those charged with inciting violence, but have not yet been placed in durance vile
You have the right to remain silent...
Other leading Brotherhood figures have been in detention since Morsi's ouster.

The latest charges accuse them of "inciting violence, funding violent acts, and thuggery."

Many have linked the Brotherhood to Sinai's snuffies after El-Beltagy stated in a recent interview that the peninsula would see no violence the moment Morsi is reinstated.

Hard-line Islamist groups based in North Sinai have intensified attacks on police and soldiers over the past two years, exploiting a security and political vacuum following the 2011 uprising that ousted autocratic president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...

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