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Three preachers accused of belonging to outlawed group, barred from work Religious speech continues to be regulated by ministry amid fears of extremism
Three preachers were suspended from religious practice Saturday on charges of belonging to an outlawed group, a statement from the Ministry of Religious Endowments read. The three preachers are from Cairo, Fayoum, and Gharbiya. They are barred from working until investigations are completed. The ministry said it received complaints concerning the three preachers and accusing them of belonging to an outlawed group, adopting extremist ideologies, and threatening national security. "The ministry will not allow any extremists to interfere in its work, whether by preaching or in an administrative capacity, as it understands the nature of such extremist groups," the statement read. Following the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in 2013, the ministry has been largely involved in the state's war on terror. It has banned dozens of other preachers and undertaken further measures to regulate religious speech in Egypt. The ministry was granted the right to arrest civilians, upon which, a top Islamic preacher was banned in mid-2015 on charges of politicising prayers. Moreover, scholar and TV presenter Islam Al-Beheiry will serve a reduced sentence of one year in prison on charges of ‘contempt of religion'.
