File photo: The Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Mohammed Badie (Photo: AP)
Egyptian prosecution extended the detention of Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and started investigations into charges against him, Aswat Masriya reported on Tuesday.
Badie is accused of inciting violence and forming a terrorist faction to burn churches and attack government institutions to create sectarian strife in Egypt and terrorise civilians.
He faces charges for his alleged involvement in two incidents. The first includes clashes between Brotherhood members and supporters and anti-Morsi protesters in December 2012, when ousted president Mohamed Morsi was still in power. The second case involves recent clashes in July at the Republican Guard headquarters, where army troops killed 53 pro-Brotherhood protesters, Aswat Masirya reported.
Badei was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday in an apartment in Cairo’s eastern district of Nasr City, where the main Brotherhood-led sit-in in support of Morsi was violently dispersed last Wednesday.
Clashes with security forces since then have left over 900 dead, including over 100 policemen.
Badei was already facing charges of inciting violence since 24 July but was not arrested along with other Brotherhood leaders who faced the same charges, including the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party head Saad El-Katatni and Badei’s deputy Khairat El-Shater.
Tens of churches were attacked and some burnt mostly in Upper Egypt following Morsi’s deposition by the army amid mass protests against him.
Egypt witnessed a wave of arrests against Islamist leaders that included many of the Brotherhoods leadership and hundreds of its members.
Egypt’s interior ministry said it had arrested over 1,000 Morsi supporters on Saturday.
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