UPDATE: Egypt court dissolves Muslim Brotherhood party

An Egyptian court on Saturday ordered the dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the embattled Muslim Brotherhood group.

The court issued a final ruling to dissolve the FJP and also freeze its assets, according to Anadolu Agency reporter.

According to local sources, Saturday’s ruling is final and binding.

“This is a politicized ruling,” FJP lawyer Mahmoud Abul-Einen told Anadolu Agency. “It violates the law because this party was founded in line with the Constitution,” he added.

The party’s legal committee, meanwhile, described the verdict as part of a plan by what it described as the “counterrevolution” to stifle theJanuary 25 revolution, which ousted the ex-president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

“The verdict aims to strike hard on the objectives of the revolution and its symbols,” the committee said in a statement.

Launched in 2011, the FJP swept elections for both chambers of parliament in Egypt’s first post-revolution polls following the 2011 ouster of long-serving president Hosni Mubarak.

On September 23, Egypt’s court of urgent matters ordered the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood Society and the banning of the group’s activities.

Saturday’s verdict comes amid a sustained crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group following Morsi’s ouster by the army last year.