On Thursday, a Cairo court has found Mahmoud Ezzat, the acting supreme guide to the Muslim Brotherhood: one of Egypt’s oldest religious organizations, guilty on charges of ‘terrorist activities’ following the military ousting of the country first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi, and has sentenced him to life imprisonment according to the state-owned MENA News Agency.
Another news source has stated that the charges were based on the promotion of violence between supporters of the organization and its opponents, and firearms provision during clashes outside the Brotherhood’s headquarters after the 2013 military coup. In the same trials, other senior members of the organization that were arrested have received life sentences as well.
The lawyer of Mahmoud Ezzat did not make any statements following the verdict.
The 76-year-old leader was arrested on the outskirts of the country’s capital Cairo last summer. Police statements at the time held that, among computers and mobile phones with encrypted software used to communicate with other members of the organization, documents were also uncovered with allegedly “destructive plans” against the Sisi government within them.
Mahmoud Ezzat became the active leader of the Muslim Brotherhood after Mohamed Badie, under whom Ezzat served as a former deputy, was arrested back in August 2013.
