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LequteMan
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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood faces a wave of trials unlike any it has seen in its history, threatening to put a large number of its senior leadership behind bars for years, even life, as military-backed authorities determined to cripple the group prepare prosecutions on charges including inciting violence and terrorism.
The prosecutions are the next phase in the wide-scale crackdown on the Brotherhood following the military's July ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, who goes on trial next month.
From nine to more than a dozen cases so far are being put together, each with multiple defendants, according to a prosecution official and Brotherhood lawyers. So far four cases, including Morsi's, have been referred to trial with a total of at least 34 defendants, though a few are being tried in absentia. Ahmed Seif, a human rights lawyer following the investigations, predicted around 200 Brotherhood leaders and senior officials could eventually end up in court.
Brotherhood lawyer Mohammed Gharib earlier this week denounced the cases, calling them "a fig leaf by authorities to cover over their scandal" — to justify the coup and the crackdown, pointing out that no police have been investigated for killing protesters. "They are going after their main political opponent," he told The Associated Press.
On Friday, the Brotherhood legal team said Gharib, who was tried under previous Egyptian administrations, left the country for security reasons and has been replaced by another lawyer. Dozens of Brotherhood lawyers have already been detained. Gharib represented the Brotherhood's jailed top leader Mohammed Badie and other senior members.
Some 2,000 high- and middle-ranking Brotherhood figures have been detained, and Gharib estimated another 6,000 rank-and-file members and supporters are also in custody, questioned for material to use against the leadership. Among the biggest figures in custody are Morsi, Badie and his deputy Khairat el-Shater, and almost half the group's main leadership council and many of its former parliament members. Rights lawyers say they are struggling to keep track, amid the high numbers jailed and prosecutors who are keeping a tight lid on information.
A prosecution official said nine or 10 cases are so far being prepared on incitement charges. Investigators are citing recordings of conversations among leaders plotting violence, testimonies by victims of violence and weapons seized at two pro-Morsi protest camps, according to the official, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the press.
