Egypt court adds 26 to ‘terrorism list’

An Egyptian court has put almost 30 people on a terrorism watch list and accused them of joining the Muslim Brotherhood.

Not long after the 2013 coup, the Muslim Brotherhood were outlawed in Egypt and its members heavily targeted by Egyptian authorities.

It was not only actual members of the group who were persecuted, but anyone opposing the regime was accused of belonging to the so-called terror group.

Copts, staunch critics, and members of political parties which opposed the group have all been targeted as part of this crackdown.

Judge Hassan Farid issued the ruling last week, which also includes a travel ban and a freeze on assets for three years.

READ: Head of Egyptian rights group held in solitary confinement

Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, one of the icons of the 2011 revolution, has been placed on the list.

Abdel Fattah was arrested on 29 September 2019 during protests against corruption and taken to Tora Prison where he was blindfolded, stripped of his clothing and beaten.

His lawyer Mohammed Baqir was arrested at the same time and has also been added to the list.

Politician Abdel Moneim Aboul Fetouh was arrested in 2018 on charges of spreading false news and joining a terror group.

He has suffered two heart attacks whilst in prison that almost killed him.

Aboul Fetouh was once a Brotherhood member but quit the group in 2011 and established the Strong Egypt Party and yet has also been added. He went up against Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq in the 2012 presidential elections.

Also on the list are Mohammed El-Kassas, deputy head of the Strong Egypt Party, and El-Hassan El-Shater, son of former Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater.