CAIRO: A Cairo military court resumed the tribunal of the 40 high-ranking Muslim Brotherhood detainees and examined their personal possessions yesterday. Lawyers, journalists and human rights groups were not allowed to attend the court session, although the hearing was open to the public. Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud, Muslim Brotherhood s lawyer, told Daily News Egypt that only 12 lawyers of the 200 on the case were allowed to enter the courtroom. He said the defense team was surprised that all the confiscated possessions of the detainees were untagged according to who they belong to. We were shocked that their personal affects were all anonymous after Abdel Rahman El Seoudi and Hassan Malek, two of the detained members, were asked by the court to leave the dock in order to identify their belongings, said Abdel Maksoud. He added that the defense team strongly objected to the fact that the possessions were not identified, and requested the hearing be adjourned. But the court did not respond to our demands and continued examining the possessions, said Abdel Maksoud. The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19, when the court will summon witnesses for testimony. The witnesses are mainly police officers from national security who are expected to repeat the redundant statements against the Muslim Brotherhood. They will say that it is banned and that it is spreading its negative message in society, said Abdel Maksoud. The detainees were arrested last December and were accused of belonging to a banned group, of supporting terrorism and of money laundering. Mohamed Habib, deputy leader of the group, told Daily News Egypt that by barring people from attending the hearing means that the procedures are not transparent. The court prevented many people from entering to hide the truth from the public. The civilian court has proved their innocence three times before, which proves that they are innocent, Habib said. He added that a military decision taken by the President or the prime minister transferred this case from a civilian court to a military one. Habib expects there to be two more trials before a final verdict is reached. I cannot foresee what the court will decide. I strongly hope they will be proven innocent. They are honorable people that have been unfairly and falsely accused, said Habib.
