The Cassation Court accepted Monday the appeal of 120 alleged members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, and ordered a retrial. In the first trial, each of the120 defendants received 10-year prison sentences, and a fine of EGP 1,000 each. They were charged with committing violence in the post Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in dispersal period in the Nile Delta city of Kafr El-Sheikh. The retrial cancels all the charges, which included being on probation for five years. The defendants were referred to court, after Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat accused them of joining an illegal group, undertaking a display of force, possession of weapons, and occupying governmental buildings including the city's official stadium and the city's police station. Among the defendants are governmental officials who were accused of inciting violence. What followed the Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square dispersals was a series of retaliations that included attacks on Coptic Christians, police officers, government officials. Thousands are currently being put on trial in front of Egyptian courts charged with instigating violence in almost all of Egypt's cities after the dispersals. Among those are hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood leading figures and members. After the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the Egyptian state has designated the Muslim Brotherhood group as a terrorist group. Many Muslim Brotherhood members have been sacked from various syndicates, charity groups, and mosques, and had their assets frozen. Currently, belonging to the group or indicating support to it is considered a crime.
In a recent development, the High Disciplinary Committee for the Judiciary postponed Monday the trial of 15 judges accused of supporting the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in. The next trial session will be held on 17 August. The judges were charged with signing a statement of support for former president Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, in protest over the military takeover on 3 July 2013.
