Egypt court rejects Muslim Brotherhood appeal on ban

In a blow to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, a court here today upheld a ban on the Islamist group's activities and seizure of its assets.

An appeal court dismissed an appeal against ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, a move which is expected to further heighten tensions between the Islamists and the army-backed interim authorities and diminish chances of a rapprochement.

The group, which has been demanding reinstatement of President Mohammed Morsi after his ouster by the powerful army, said it would appeal against today's ruling.

On September 23, a court had banned the Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organisation, and ordered the seizure of its assets and funds.
 

It had also outlawed any institution connected to the Brotherhood.

The Islamist movement had slammed the verdict as "politically motivated" and an "attempt by military leaders" to stifle dissent.

The 85-year-old Islamist movement was banned by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered itself as an NGO in March 2013 in response to a court case brought by opponents who contested its legal status.

The Brotherhood also has a legally registered political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which was set up in 2011 as a "non-theocratic" group after the uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power.

On September 2 this year, Egypt's State Commissioners Authority, a body that advises the government on legal issues, recommended the Brotherhood's dissolution after claims circulated of its links to armed militias.

Egyptian authorities launched a crackdown against the group following the ouster of the first democratically elected president, who hails from the group, by the military on July 3 after mass protests against his year-long regime.

Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters demanding Morsi's reinstatement.

The group's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, and most of its high and mid-level leaders like deputy supreme guide Khairat El-Shater and secretary general Ezzat Ibrahim have been detained. They face charges including incitement of violence against their opponents.