The third encounter XII- 'Enslaving the minds' ON May 11, 1966, The Egyptian Gazette reported prosecution reviews of court testimonies which stressed Sayyed Kotb's role in the secret organisation of the Ikhwan and his tremendous influence on its members. Headlined: Kotb 'enslaved the minds of young men' counsel tells court The Gazette report said: A prosecution counsel charged yesterday that Sayyed Kotb, accused chief of the underground organisation of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, had 'enslaved the minds of various young men to overthrow the present government'. El-Sayyed Samir Nagy, Counsel for the State Security Prosecution, told the First Chamber of the Supreme State Security Court that 'everyone who joined the organisation knowing its objectives was involved in criminal complicity to topple the government”. El-Sayyed Nagy, who yesterday resumed summing up for the prosecution against the accused members of the command of the Brotherhood's secret formation, emphasised that Sayyed Kotb's objective was to overthrow the government and that he was propagating that objective through his sister Hamida Kotb, another accused, and also through the accused Zeinab el-Ghazaly. Prosecuting counsel said the second accused, Mohamed Youssef Hawash, deputy chief of the underground organisation, was 'well aware of its plans and objectives, and his heart was eaten by lust for vengeance'. El-Sayyed Nagy said that the admissions of the second accused before the court and during his cross-examination showed that he knew that the organisation was armed and was aimed at overthrowing the government. They also prove his knowledge of the expected arms shipment from Saudi Arabia. Counsel said that Mrs Zeinab el- Ghazaly was the connecting link between the command and the accused Hassan el-Hodeiby, one time leader of the Brotherhood before it was banned. He said that the third accused, Ali Abdo el-Ashmawy, went to Saudi Arabia to collect funds and buy arms for purposes of destruction and sabotage. The same issue of The Egyptian Gazette carried a report on Second Chamber proceedings under Lt. Gen. AliGamal Mahmoud. The report said that the court heard pleadings by lawyers who demanded acquittal of their respective clients on the grounds that: 1- No arms were found in their possession 2- They knew nothing about plans to assassinate the President or overthrow the government. [email protected]
