The court also sentenced 15 others to life in prison and two other defendants, including Mohamed El-Kassas, the vice president of Strong Egypt Party, to 10 years in prison.

The high state security prosecution had accused Abul-Fotouh and Ezzat as well others in the trial of several charges, including leading the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organisation that attempted to topple the regime by force and carrying out terrorist attacks against judges, army and police personnel, and attacks on public institutions.

Abul-Fotouh was also accused of spreading false news in an interview with Qatari-based Al-Jazeera news agency about the regime.

The 71-year-old physician was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood since his university years in the 1970’s, however, he left the group in the late 2000s over organisational disagreements. 

In June 2012 — following the 25 January Revolution — Abul-Fotouh ran an independent presidential campaign in the first presidential elections after Mubarak’s ouster, finishing fourth with 18 percent of the votes in the first round of the election.

The elections was eventually won by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi in a run-off against Ahmed Shafiq.

Shortly after the 2012 presidential elections, Abul-Fotouh established the Strong Egypt Party.

Abul-Fotouh was arrested in February 2018 hours after his return from a visit to London, during which he was interviewed by Al-Jazeera and reportedly criticised government policies.

Meanwhile, Acting Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat was arrested in a hideout in Eastern Cairo in 2020 and was sentenced in April 2021 to life over charges of murder and terrorism in a case known in the media as the ‘Guidance Bureau Case.’

He was also sentenced in December of last year to life for collaborating with the Palestinian group Hamas and other foreign organisations and disclosing information pertaining to Egypt’s national security.

Moreover, he was sentenced to life in prison in April in the ‘Storming of the Eastern Borders Case’ that goes back to 2011.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government since December 2013.