Egypt Judges Recommend Legal Dissolution of Muslim Brotherhood

A panel of judges recommended the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood Monday, the same day a police station in Cairo was bombed and the Muslim Brotherhood joined efforts to organize a “million-person march” on Tuesday.

As Reuters reports, Egypt’s military-backed government set up the panel that advised a court to remove non-governmental organization (NGO) status of the Muslim Brotherhood, which threatens their future in politics. The Muslim Brotherhood “formally registered itself in March as an NGO to secure its legal status.”

Muslim Brotherhood opponents have “argued that the NGO registration was illegal because the Brotherhood-led government had effectively issued a license to itself,” but the panel’s recommendation to the court was not binding. The next session to resolve the matter will be held on November 12.

Egypt’s interim government has taken steps recently to crush the Muslim Brotherhood. On Sunday, ousted President Mohammed Morsi and 14 others were indicted for inciting the murders of 10 protesters last December. Further, the government appointed a panel of 50 delegates, nearly all of whom are secular, to review a draft constitution that would remove the Islamist elements the Brotherhood added. 

Reuters reports that “at least 900 people, most of them Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi, have been killed since the army takeover on July 3.”