• 06:04
  • Wednesday ,14 August 2013
العربية

Detention of Brotherhood figures extended by 15 days

By-Ahram

Copts and Poliltical Islam

00:08

Wednesday ,14 August 2013

Detention of Brotherhood figures extended by 15 days

A number of key figures close to the Muslim Brotherhood who are currently in detention have had their detentions extended by 15 days. 

Islamist figures including Salafist preacher Hazem Salah Abu-Ismail, leading Muslim Brotherhood member Helmy El-Gazzar, Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud and former Islamist MP Mohamed El-Omda were given an extra 15 days detention by the general prosecution on Tuesday on charges of inciting the killing of protesters.   
 
The accused are charged of inciting violence leading to deaths during the clashes that took place at the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters on 30 June which left eight people dead. They are also accused of inciting the clashes that took place at the presidential palace last December, which left eight confirmed dead and hundreds injured.
 
On 25 August, Cairo's criminal court will begin the trial of six Brotherhood leaders – most notably Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat El-Shater – also on charges of inciting the murder of protesters at the Brotherhood's headquarters in the Cairo district of Moqattam.
 
El-Shater has been detained since 6 July, while an arrest warrant was issued on 28 July for Badie.
 
Also facing trial for the Brotherhood headquarters clashes are leading members Mostafa El-Beshlawi, Mohamed El-Beshlawi, Atef El-Semari and Mohamed Rashad Bayoumi.
 
Salafist figure and former presidential hopeful Abu-Ismail is also facing charges of forging his mother's nationality during the 2012 presidential elections.
 
Abu-Ismail was detained on 18 July following investigations that revealed he had misled the presidential election committee by claiming that his mother held only an Egyptian passport. Under Egypt's election rules, the candidate's parents must be Egyptian and not acquire citizenship from another country.
 
Abu-Ismail was disqualified from the presidential race after reports circulated that his mother held a US passport.