Two defendants affiliated with the banned-Muslim Brotherhood group were referred to be tried before a military court after they were accused of blocking a railway in an August march in Minya in Upper Egypt, MENA reported Monday.
The march was a commemoration of the first anniversary of the forced dispersal of the Brotherhood sit-ins at Rabaa el-Adaweya and Nahda Square, which occurred on Aug. 14, 2013.
After being arrested during the march, the two defendants—Mohamed Abdel Latif and Abdel Raziq—were first tried before a civil court over charges of blocking a public road, participating in an unlicensed protest and inciting riots. North Minya prosecution Judge Abdel Raheem Abdel Malek referred them to be tried before the military judiciary in what appears to be an application of an October presidential decree.
In the decree, the jurisdiction of military tribunals was expanded to allow the military to try those accused of crimes of terrorism and threatening security.
On Dec. 15, some 312 defendants—including Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie—were referred to military prosecution for their alleged involvement in torching Ismailia’s court complex, in a retroactive application of the same decree.
