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Guidance Bureau members' referral to military court is ‘crime': Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood will stand before the military tribunal Tuesday on charges of violence
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, Mohamed Wahdan, Saad Elewa and 18 others, were referred to military court Sunday. They are charged with destroying public property, belonging to an illegal group, inciting violence, and rioting. The trial sessions will start Tuesday, in the military area in the Hikestep military camp on the Ismailia-Cairo road. Brotherhood spokesperson Mohamed Montasser said that referring Wahdan and Elewa, among others, to military courts is "a crime against the revolution and the homeland". He added that "military courts are known for their brutal injustice", accusing the current government of legalising "torture and trial of civilians by military courts". Wahdan and Elewa were arrested at the beginning of the month, as part of the continuous state crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. The other defendants have been in pre-trial detention for over one year. Security forces release almost weekly statements indicating that they have arrested tens of Morsi supporters on terrorism-related charges. Referring citizens to military courts has been common practice since the 25 January Revolution. It increased after President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree that expanded the jurisdiction of military courts to include anyone who attacks the state's "vital" facilities. Among the facilities "protected...against terrorist attacks" by the new law are "stations, power networks and towers, gas and oil fields, rail lines, road networks, bridges", according to the presidential statement. At least 2,100 civilians have been referred to military courts since the armed forces ousted former president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013, according to NGOs and media reports. Last Sunday, the Suez military court sentenced 14 defendants to life in absentia, while two others were handed 15 years, on charges of killing protesters in Suez. On 17 May, Egypt executed six men who had been sentenced to death in a military court, while civilian courts are still looking into the legality of their executions. Evidence purportedly points to some of them having been arrested prior to the date of the crimes for which they were convicted. Aside from military courts, the Egyptian state has been suppressing Brotherhood members through limiting their financial powers, such as forming a committee tasked with confiscating Muslim Brotherhood property. The latest activity undertaken by the committee was compensating alleged victims of the Brotherhood from former assets owned by the members of the group.
