The third encounter: 'Armed only for self-defence' More Ikhwan defence pleadings were subsequently made before the various courts. An interesting example was reported by The Egyptian Gazette of April 19, 1966 under the headline of: Ikhwan claim they were armed only for self-defence The paper said: Six defendants involved in the case of the higher command of the Ikhwan el-Muslimeen Organisation admitted before the Supreme State Security Court yesterday that the Organisation had been preparing to confront the Government with force and to defend its structure, and that to this end the Ikhwan had obtained arms and explosives in a bid to assassinate officials of the regime and to destroy key installations in the country. The six defendants, namely Ahmed Abdul Halim el-Serugy, Salah Mohamed Khalifa, Sayyed Saadeddin Sayyed, Mohamed Abdul Moeti Hegazy, Imam Abdul Latif Abdul Fattah Geith, Kamal Abdul Aziz el-Orfy Sallam pleaded before the first chamber of the State Security Court under General Fouad el-Degwy. Defendant Mohamed Abdul M'otei Hegazy told the court that he had joined the Sayyeda Zeinab 'family' in 1964, and that he was trained in Japanese wrestling, long hikes, rigorous readings and the use of weapons. The object of the formation was to set up an armed group of the people to confront the government in an armed clash only in self-defence. Similarly, The Egyptian Gazette of April 25, 1966, published an amazing defence plea for Ikhwan chief, Sayyed Kotb. Headlined: 'He was not even a member', the paper said: The defence counsel for `Sayyed Kotb, the accused chief of the underground Ikhwan el-Muslimeen, claimed before the State Security Court yesterday that his client was neither a member nor a leader of the secret Ikhwan formation. The lawyer also said that the Ikhwan underground organisation comprised a large number of young men dominated by ideas and beliefs propagated by veteran members of the brotherhood, like Abdul Fattah Sherif and Maarouf el-Hadary. Again, The Egyptian Gazette of May 2, 1966 carried a report headlined: Defendants claim ignorance of Ikhwan projects Perhaps more amusing than surprising was the defence plea that a defendant was a `swindler'. The Egyptian Gazette of February 12, 1966 reported: The trial of eight members of the banned el-Ikhwan el-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood) accused of plotting to overthrow the present regime by force, was resumed yesterday before the second chamber of the Supreme State Security Court…. The court heard defence pleadings for the third defendant, Khattab el-Sayyed Khattab, Maitre Samy Mohamed Issa, a delegated lawyer….. Maitre Issa said that before 1952, the defendant was working in Palestine against Zionism, and against imperialism in the Suez Canal. During the second stage of his life, Khattab suffered a financial crisis. He worked for the Islamic Conference between 1952 and 1954, and he agreed to a request by Said Ramadan to form a secret organisation. Maitre Issa, however, denied that Khattab was serious when he accepted the offer made by Ramadan. He had to accept the offer out of lack of money, He added that Khattab did not contact any members and did not discuss the goals of the formation with anybody……… Khattab, he said, was a swindler who swindled money of Said Ramadan and others, but he was not involved in criminal complicity. [email protected]
