The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters Sunday rejected an appeal against the dissolution of the Salafi Independence Party headed by Magdy Hussein, upholding an earlier ban on the prohibition of the party’s activities, Youm7 reported.
The court on Aug. 29 dissolved the party on grounds that the party was founded on a religious basis, which is outlawed in the 2014 Constitution. The party challenged the court verdict on Sep. 30.
Party spokesperson Diaa Sawy told The Cairo Post Sunday the charges against the party “as plaintiff Amr Abdel Razek filed them, say that the ‘party opposes the 2013 Roadmap and threatens public order.’”
The party filed a lawsuit against the Court for Urgent Matters to the Administrative Court to order that the Urgent Matters Court not be authorized to consider cases of dissolving political parties, he added, noting that the trial of this filing will be held on Dec. 11.
Under the Constitution, the Political Party Affairs Committee is the only authority with the right to consider such cases, Sawy said.
He added that the party took its own legal procedures and filed an appeal against the court’s Sunday rejection. “There is no Judiciary during the rule of a military coup… our activities are still working and all headquarters are still open,” Sawy said.
The party is affiliated with the pro-Muslim Brotherhood National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) formed following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. The coalition considers the current regime the result of a military coup d’état led by now-President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
On Oct. 30, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab urged the execution of the court decision regarding the ban of the party, but the party’s legal committee countered in a press statement on their official Facebook page that Mahlab’s orders were not legally plausible because the verdict was not final. It added that the party had already challenged the verdict and had a scheduled court session for Saturday.
