Judges to release new list of MB names targeted for asset freeze

A judicial committee tasked with freezing the assets of Muslim Brotherhood members says it will soon release a new list of names of people whose assets are to be frozen, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported Tuesday.

The new list is in addition to the 132 Brotherhood leaders whose assets have been already confiscated and frozen, following a September court order to halt the activities and freeze the assets of the outlawed organization, a committee source told MENA. Among the assets are real estate, bank accounts, transfers, stocks, bonds and land deeds.

The committee earlier released a list of more than 1,000 nongovernmental organizations  (NGOs) owned and operated by the Brotherhood, confiscating their funds and stopping their activities.

According to the committee, the suspended NGOs were wholly controlled by the Brotherhood and NGO funds were being used to finance illegal activities.

One hundred and thirty of the suspended NGOs are located in Sharqiya Governorate, from which deposed President Mohamed Morsi hails, according to a report in the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper. Daqahlia Governorate has the second-highest tally, with 128, while 35 organizations on the list are based in Alexandria and 28 in Cairo.

The source added that the committee was careful to determine “strong connections” between the suspended NGOs and the Muslim Brotherhood, in order to avoid making any incorrect decisions that would harm NGOs not related to the banned group.

The Egyptian Food Bank was originally on the list of suspended NGOs. The committee later removed the Food Bank from the list, saying that evidence showed that the Food Bank has no relationship with the Brotherhood.

In a similar case, Al-Jame’yya al-Sha’eyya, an important Salafi-run charity, was also included on the original list. The committee later declared that only 138 branches of the NGO’s 1,100 branches will be shut down, as those  branches are completely controlled by the Brotherhood.

The source said that six of the suspended NGOs have submitted appeals, requesting that they be allowed to continue operation.

The Muslim Brotherhood released a statement protesting the decision to freeze the NGOs assets, deeming it a “continuation of the policies of impoverishment and humiliation.”

Referring to an earlier court decision to suspend Brotherhood activities and assets, the statement said the government has no grounds to issue such a decision, given that the decision is based on a preliminary ruling that is now under appeal in an administrative court.

“The danger of such a decision is that it affects millions of families and individuals that wholly depend on these NGOs. They [the government] do this because they hate the Muslim Brotherhood and wish to end our popularity. By doing this, they attack Islam itself,” the statement, published on the group’s website, read.

The statement also claimed that blocking these organizations could open the door for Christian charities to fill the void and convert Muslims.

“Does the Cabinet aim to freeze the assets of Muslims to cover up part of its failures? Or does it want rich Muslims not to contribute to charity so that the West and those who hate Muslims and Islam would be satisfied?” the statement added.