Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice newspaper suspended

Ahram Online, Thursday 26 Dec 2013

The newspaper of the Muslim Brotherhood, Freedom and Justice, is blocked from publication Thursday

Freedom and Justice
A scene of the aftermath of a fire that was set in the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party by anti-Mursi protesters during clashes between them and supporters of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in Sedy Gaber in Alexandria, June 28, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

The Egyptian government blocked the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party daily newspaper, Freedom and Justice, from publication Thursday after the cabinet declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group on Wednesday.

The Ministry of interior issued a statement Thursday saying that the General Directorate for Investigation, which protects intellectual property rights in coordination with Al-Ahram Foundation, responsible for printing the paper, stopped distributing and printing the paper Thursday.

Al-Ahram Arabic reported that all issues that were supposed to be published Thursday  confiscated.

The fate the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, which was established in 2011 after the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, remains undetermined.

The now banned Brotherhood newspaper was issued in October 2011 as an official voice of the party.

Egyptian law regulating the formation and work of political parties gives every party the right to publish its own newspaper.

In a press statement Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Hossam Eissa said the cabinet declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group, making it subject to Article 86 of the Egyptian penal code, which defines terrorism and the penalties for engaging in it.

Eissa said the deadly bombing in the Delta city of Mansoura Tuesday, as well as recent attacks on churches and other violent incidents attributed to members of the group, led to the decision

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