Egypt authorities arrest two senior Muslim Brotherhood officials News
Egypt authorities arrest two senior Muslim Brotherhood officials

[JURIST] Egypt’s state news agency MENA [official website] reported Monday that government security forces have arrested the secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party [party website] and another top ranked member of the party. A source from the Egyptian security forces revealed [Ahram report] that secretary general Hussein Ibrahim and El-Refei Hassan were arrested in the Mediterranean city of Marsa Matrouh, which is located on Egypt’s north coast. Authorities arrested the two individuals as they were allegedly planning to flee the country to Libya from Marsa Matrouh. Upon arrest, the two individuals were found to have an unspecified amount of foreign currency on their person. Formal charges and a trial date are set to come in the immediate future.

Egypt’s tumultuous situation with the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi continues today. Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights [official website] reported in August that at least 2,600 people [JURIST report] were killed by violence in the 18 months following Morsi’s military ouster. An Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] 30 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to life imprisonment in May on charges of violent behavior. Also in May an Egyptian court sentenced Morsi [JURIST report] and more than 100 others to death for their involvement in a mass prison break. The prison break occurred during the country’s 2011 uprising that ousted then-president Hosni Mubarak. In February an Egyptian court confirmed [JURIST report] death sentences for 183 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi. The men were convicted in December 2014 of playing a role in an attack on a police station in the governate of Giza, known as the “Kerdasa massacre,” which resulted in the death of 11 police officers and two civilians.