Final ruling to include Aboul Fotouh, Mahmoud Ezzat and others on the lists of terrorism in Egypt

The Criminal Chamber of the Egyptian Court of Cassation, in a final ruling, upheld the inclusion of the former leader of the Brotherhood, the former candidate for the Egyptian presidential elections and the leader of the "Strong Egypt" party, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, his son and others on the lists of terrorists for a period of 5 years.

This ruling issued by the Chamber - headed by Counselor Muhammad Reda Hussein, Vice-President of the Court of Cassation - is not subject to appeal before any other judicial authority.

The court decided to reject the appeal submitted by Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and other defendants against the Criminal Court's decision issued on January 12, 2021, which included inclusion of him and 15 other defendants on the list of terrorists for a period of 5 years.

The ruling includes, in addition to Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, his son Ahmed Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, and the former acting general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, as well as others.

The authorities arrested Aboul Fotouh in February 2018, after his return from London following an interview with Al-Jazeera in which he criticized the rule of current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi prior to his re-election in March 2018, and arrested 5 of his aides from the Strong Egypt party. which he established after his defection from the Muslim Brotherhood, knowing that he was one of the most prominent candidates in the presidential elections that took place in 2012 and ended with the victory of the late President Mohamed Morsi.

After seizing his property, the Egyptian Public Prosecutor decided on June 20 to extend the detention of Aboul Fotouh on charges of “spreading false news that would harm the country’s reputation,” because he denounced the “lack of credibility” of the presidential elections (March 2018) that were in the process of preparation. At that time, he called for a boycott.

And in February 2020, days before the end of the legal period for his pretrial detention, the Egyptian authorities included Abul Fotouh in a new case, on charges of “taking leadership of a terrorist group and committing a financing crime,” based on investigations by the National Security Agency affiliated with the Ministry of Interior.

According to his family, Aboul Fotouh suffers from many chronic diseases such as diabetes and pressure, in addition to health problems in the heart muscle, prostate, as well as severe sleep disturbances.

Security had arrested Mahmoud Ezzat in August 2020 during a raid on a residential apartment in the Fifth Settlement area, east of Cairo.

After the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood’s guide, Muhammad Badie, in August 2013, his deputy, Ezzat, was appointed as the acting guide, and after Ezzat’s arrest last year, the group chose Ibrahim Mounir, who resides outside Egypt, as the acting guide.