Top Brothers in the dock

The military trial of 22 leading Muslim Brotherhood figures is part of the fallout of the 11 September attacks, reports Khaled Dawoud
The Supreme Military Court opened on Monday the trial of 22 prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures accused with "seeking to make use of current events in the Arab and Islamic world to incite the public against the government in order to take over power."
The defendants, mostly university professors and doctors, were also charged with "joining an outlawed group (the Muslim Brotherhood)... holding secret meetings to plan activities aimed at serving the purposes of the group... and seeking to infiltrate the public, particularly students, to recruit new members and convince them of the group's ideas."
Although the government has regularly been rounding up members of the Muslim Brotherhood since 1995, the latest arrest of the 22 defendants was significant. They included Mahmoud Ghazlan, described by observers as "the number three man" in the group's leadership hierarchy, coming after Mustafa Mashhour, known as the Supreme Guide, and his deputy, Maamoun El-Hodeibi.
According to one Brotherhood lawyer, Ghazlan, a professor at the Agriculture Faculty, University of Zagazig, was the "secretary-general of the Supreme Guidance office." Out of the 22 defendants, nine are university professors, eight are doctors and the rest are engineers and businessmen. All were known as activists in the 83-year- old political Islamic group, banned since 1954.
The speed of referring the case to a military tribunal shortly after the arrest of the defendants in early November indicated the seriousness of the case and the charges made against them.
Adel Abdel-Maqsoud, a spokesman for a 50- member defence team representing the defendants, said the latest clampdown "clearly was aimed at a carefully selected group of Brotherhood leaders in order to send a message that the government will not tolerate any protests after the 11 September attacks in America."
Abdel-Maqsoud said that it "was not a coincidence to have nine defendants who are university professors, and the official charge sheet accuses the defendants of trying to infiltrate university students and incite them against the regime." He added, "It was also not a coincidence that the arrests took place almost at the same time the United States decided to expand its crackdown on Islamic groups to include the Brotherhood." He was referring to US President George Bush's decision in early November to freeze the assets of Italy-based Al-Taqwa Bank, run by prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure, Youssef Nada. Nada has been living in exile for over four decades and has been known as a successful businessman with activities in many world countries.
Shortly before the arrest of the 22 defendants, leaders of the Brotherhood group staged several demonstrations at Al-Azhar mosque to protest the US military campaign against Afghanistan. The government was clearly unhappy with those protests, although they were limited to the mosque itself and there were no clashes with the police.
Unlike previous military trials held at the Haikstep military camp, security officers were very keen to separate reporters from the defendants and their families. Journalists were asked to use another entrance to the desert camp that is far away from that used by families. They were also not allowed to talk to the defendants and were whisked immediately out of the courtroom as soon as the hearing ended.
Scores of family members filled the courtroom. While lawyers and male relatives sat in the front rows, veiled women and their children occupied the backbenches. The defendants, mostly in their 50s and 60s, did not shout any anti-government slogans and were dressed in white shirts and trousers, the official uniform for prisoners on trial.
With all the tension, however, the clearly austere presiding judge had to join the audience in laughter when even before he started reading the first charge, one of the defendants shouted from the cage, "This did not happen." All defendants pleaded not guilty.
The lawyers asked the court to release all defendants, arguing that they were all "prominent figures in the society" and that there was fear that they could escape while the trial was going on. They also asked to get copies of the files of the case.
In a show of solidarity with the Brotherhood, the defence team included lawyers belonging to various political groups, including liberals, leftists, one Christian lawyer and one woman.
The case will resume today in order to review with the lawyers the material seized with defendants upon their arrest. That includes books, anti-government leaflets and computer discs. The defendants were accused of using the Internet as a means of communication to issue orders and coordinate activities.
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