CAIRO (AP) -- An Egyptian court on
Monday ordered the Muslim Brotherhood to be banned and its assets
confiscated in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown by the
military-backed government against supporters of the ousted Islamist
president Mohammed Morsi.
The ruling opens the
door for a wider crackdown on the vast network of the Brotherhood, which
includes social organizations that have been key for building the
group's grassroots support and helping its election victories. The
verdict banned the group itself - including the official association it
registered under earlier this year - as well as "any institution
branching out of it or ... receiving financial support from it,"
according to the court ruling, made public on Egypt's state official
news agency MENA.
The judge at the Cairo Court
for Urgent Matters also ordered the "confiscation of all the group's
money, assets, and buildings" and said that an independent committee
should be formed by the Cabinet to manage the money until final court
orders are issued. The verdict can be appealed.
The Brotherhood was
outlawed for most of its 85 years in existence. But after the 2011
ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, it was allowed to work openly, formed a
political party and rose to power in a string of post-Mubarak
elections. In March, it registered as a recognized non-governmental
organization.
"This is totalitarian decision,"
leading group member Ibrahim Moneir said in an interview with
Qatari-based Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr TV. "You are losers and it (the
Brotherhood) will remain with God's help, not by the orders by the
judiciary of el-Sissi," he added, referring to military chief Gen.
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Morsi on July 3.
The
court did not immediately make public the grounds for its ruling. The
verdict came in a suit raised by lawyers from the leftist party Tagammu
party, accusing the Brotherhood of being a "terrorist" and "exploiting
religion in political slogans." Several other courts are looking into
similar suits.
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