Attorney General Hisham Barakat referred 215 members of the Helwan Brigades to criminal trials according to Youm7.
The Helwan Brigades became well-known in August 2014 after releasing a video that went viral on social media as they were wearing masks, holding automatic weapons saying “No more peace with Interior Ministry.”
Aliaa Nasr Awad, the journalist who filmed the video was arrested shortly after, along with 5 of the Brigades members.
“I think that recording a video like this and uploading it on the internet for my journalism organization is considered to be a scoop. I’ve covered a lot of demonstrations and events, whatever its content or demands,” Aliaa said during the investigations, Al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The defendants are facing charges of joining a terrorist group, targeting police officers, killing journalist Mayada Ashraf, along with the possession of weapons and explosives.
According to Youm7, Barakat said the Helwan Brigades have committed 32 terrorist attacks and caused damages up to 40 million EGP ($5.42 million.)
