A day before the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution, a state committee charged with appraising the assets of the banned Muslim Brotherhood accused the group of planning to "Islamise" the state during their year in power. "Files show that the country was actually led by the supreme guide and the guidance office of the Muslim Brotherhood, which gave direct orders to the cabinet and the presidency," said a committee official, speaking at a press conference on Sunday that was broadcast live on Egyptian television. "The [Brotherhood] organisation infiltrated state institutions during the rule of the president Mohamed Morsi, committee head Ezzat Khamis told journalists, displaying various files to support his claim. Khamis said the committee would refer its evidence to the prosecution for investigation. He also announced that the committee has so far frozen the assets of 105 schools, 43 hospitals, 29 medical associations and 1125 other associations linked to the Brotherhood group. The Muslim Brotherhood was declared a terrorist group in 2013. The committee was set up by President Adly Mansour to examine the group's assets. 'Infiltration' of security, 'targeting' judiciary The committee head accused the Brotherhood of planning to establish an "Islamic security apparatus." The Brotherhood was planning to call this new apparatus the Presidency Security, the committee said. The group planned to restructure the interior ministry, the national security apparatus and other security bodies, the investigators said. During the press conference, Khamis also displayed files that purported to show that Brotherhood leaders and figures at the Freedom and Justice Party had proposed that the retirement age of judges be reduced from 70 to 60 years, which he described as "targeting some judges." Khamis also said that a bill that was about to be approved under Morsi's rule stated that the appointment of Egypt's top prosecutor be solely the decision of the Egyptian president. At present, the Supreme Judicial Council nominates one person from a list of specific judges, and the president selects from that pool. Khamis said that the Brotherhood, lead by the head of the guidance bureau, Mohamed Badie, were planning to freeze the work of the Supreme Constitutional Court and close its headquarters, in case the court insisted on implementing the verdicts it has issued against the interests of the Brotherhood. In June 2013 the court ruled that the Islamist-dominated upper house of the Egyptian parliament was illegitimate. A year earlier the same court had dissolved the lower house, in which the Muslim Brotherhood occupied the majority of seats. Link to Black Bloc and illegal groups "The files showed a link between illegal groups such as the ones known as the Black Bloc, and some of the known Ultras [football fan] groups," Khamis said. The Black Bloc were a shadowy vigilante group that appeared in early 2013 during nationwide anti-government rallies marking the 2011 revolution's second anniversary. Members were shown wearing black ski masks and apparently endorsing acts of violence. Khamis also said that Brotherhood members had coordinated with members of the 6 April Youth Movement. The leftist group was banned in 2014. The head of the committee said that the Brotherhood deployed these groups at protests in 2013. source: Ahram Online
