CAIRO: An Administrative Court released 13 deputy leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) who were convicted by a military court after completing three quarters of their jail term. The 13 leaders had completed three of their seven-year jail sentence. The 13 convicted Brotherhood members were arrested at the end of 2006 along with 40 others after being accused of belonging to a banned group and of money laundering. Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib was optimistic about the releases and said that he expected that more of detainees will be released following those 13, including chief financier of the group Khairat Al-Shater. Habib said that the 13 members were freed by the Egyptian legal system which he greatly respects. Habib further added that security officials had interfered more than once to prevent such verdicts, but that the legal system that the group trusts and appreciates, has managed to escape the pressure this time. Among those recently freed are Mohamed Ali Basher, ex-secretary general of the Engineers' Syndicate and prominent member in the MB's head office. The release however, comes less than two weeks after the arrest of 27 Brotherhood members, including Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general of the Arab Doctors' Union.
