Cairo - A military tribunal resumed its trial on Sunday of
40 leaders of the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement, but controversy
broke out over the exact charges they face.
On December 7, the court had cleared the defendants, who include
the group's third-in-command Khairat al-Shater, of charges of
terrorism and money laundering.
But the so-called Brothers still faced the charge of belonging to
an outlawed group, according to security sources.
However, a group spokesman and leader Essam el-Erian told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa on Sunday that the court had an 'about-face' in
its December 23 session regarding clearing the charges.
'The court said that they will keep all the charges as a
precaution,' he said. El-Erian, a lawyer himself, added that he does
not understand how the charges could be upheld as such.
'This trial is exceptional and unfair,' el-Erian said. The 40
high-profile Muslim Brothers are civilians being tried in a military
court. International rights group and top legal experts have
contested the legality of the trial.
The procedures that the military tribunal follows make it
difficult to predict any outcomes, el-Erian said.
'Probabilities and expectations are unlimited. I can not assume
nor expect anything (positive) from this trial.'
According to el-Erian, there has been at least seven military
trials during the history of the Muslim Brothers, but none has
resulted in what he termed 'an efficient solution.'
'The trials have led to more sympathy towards the Muslim
Brotherhood and further increased the tension between the government
and the group,' he said.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a self-styled political group which
believes that applying Islamic jurisprudence is the most effective
way of achieving political reform. The group is a strong opponent to
the Egyptian government.
Although outlawed, the group managed to win 88 seat in the
Egyptian parliament by filing candidates as 'independents' in the
last parliamentary elections in 2005.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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