On Monday (Sept. 23), an Egyptian court ordered a relative shutdown on all activities of the outlawed and overthrown Muslim Brotherhood movement. After the military ouster in July of President Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by the Brotherhood, this latest move by country’s government signals an effective end to the Islamist group.
According to the reports of several news outlets, the state news agency, EgyNews, released publicly the indictment against the Brotherhood, citing a list of charges and endorsing the removal of Morsi from office. As part of an ongoing crackdown, the interim Egyptian government has frozen all of the Brotherhood’s assets and stopped the group from forming new alliances.
In its 85-year existence, the Brotherhood was banned for its extremist views, only coming into prominence after the removal of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. During Morsi’s short reign, the Brotherhood once again rose politically and formed the powerful political group, the Freedom and Justice Party. This latest move punctuates the tensions between the Egyptian military and remaining Brotherhood members – many of whom are dead or in jail.
Morsi is currently awaiting trial for ordering troops to murder peaceful protesters outside his place of rule when he was in power.
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Photo: EPA
