Case to dissolve Brotherhood adjourned

The State Commissioners Authority (SCA) has adjourned the case looking into the possible dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood organization to January 16, state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported Thursday.

SCA, a judicial body that falls under the jurisdiction of the State Council, adjourned the hearing to further investigate documents related to the case, brought to the court after a group of lawyers filed a lawsuit in front of the State Council.

The lawsuit requested that the president, the prime minister, and the ministers of finance and social solidarity dissolve the Islamist organization and confiscate its funds.

The lawyers filing the case said that the Brotherhood has been practicing social and political work since the 1930s, was legally disbanded 60 years ago, and has been operating illegally  since then.

In 2002, a law was issued obliging all NGOs, including the Brotherhood, to formalize their legal standing, which the Islamist group failed to do.

The law mandates that any group conducting social work must be registered or dissolved. However, the Brotherhood continued to function and established a political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party.

Following continued demands that it legalize its position, the largest Islamist organization in Egypt declared the establishment of an NGO, called the Muslim Brotherhood, before the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi.

The NGO was registered by the Ministry of Social Solidarity and was headed by the group's former supreme guide, Mohamed Akef. With the Brotherhood still in existence, critics considered the change to be only cosmetic.

After Morsi's ouster, the NGO was disbanded by the State Council following a recommendation from the SCA, which also pushed for the confiscation of the NGO’s funds.