State committee seizes 22 Muslim Brotherhood affiliated NGOs

El-Sayed Gamal El-Deen, Wednesday 12 Mar 2014

Over 1,000 Brotherhood organisations appropriated by the government since ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July, 2013

Egyptian Muslim brotherhood Shura council
Egyptian Muslim brotherhood Shura council members gather outside the new Muslim brotherhood headquarters in Cairo, April, 2011 (Photo: AP)

A committee tasked with appraising and freezing the funds of the Muslim Brotherhood has decided to transfer the management of 22 of the group's NGOs to a government ministry.

The move on Wednesday brings the total of Brotherhood organisations appropriated by the government to 1,075, all of which are managed by the committee and the solidarity ministry, said justice ministry spokesman Judge Abdel-Abzim El-Ashry.

The seizures aren't intended to halt the groups' humanitarian services but rather to place them under the ministry's direct supervision, added El-Ashry.

A September court ruling banned all activities of the Brotherhood, from which ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi hails, and ordered the confiscation of the group's assets through a designated committee.

In December, Egypt's interim authorities designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation and froze the assets of its Guidance Bureau and all affiliated NGOs.

By early 2014, the government had seized the assets of 710 Brotherhood members, including cars and agricultural land, as well as privately owned shares in listed companies.

Dozens of schools proven to be linked to Morsi's group were also appropriated.

Hundreds of Brotherhood members and the group's top leadership have been arrested by authorities since Morsi's ouster and placed on trial for a variety of charges.

Short link: