Update: 11 MB members acquitted of inciting violence

Eleven Muslim Brotherhood figures were acquitted of charges of inciting violence and protesting illegally, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported Monday evening.

In early January, security forces arrested 31 Brotherhood members in the northern city of Beheira following mass protests organized by members of the banned Islamic organization, purportedly in violation of the protest law, which requires prior notification of police forces before any demonstration.

The 20 other defendants in the case were found guilty of the charges and sentenced to three months in prison by the Damanhour Misdemeanor Court.

Also on Monday, the prosecutor general referred Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie along with 50 other of the group’s leaders to Cairo Criminal Court on charges of forming “an operations room to confront the state during the dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in,” the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

This adds to the list of trials Badie and other leaders are implicated in.

Badie’s trial, along with his deputy Khairat al-Shater and 15 other members of the group, is set to begin on February 13 on charges of murder and inciting violence in front of their headquarters in Moqattam on June 30.

Other defendants include Brotherhood leaders Saad al-Katatny, former Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef, Mohamed al-Beltagy and Essam al-Erian, MENA reported.   

Eight people died in all-night clashes at the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Moqattam on June 30, on the day that marked nationwide protests demanding the resignation of deposed President Mohamed Morsi. 

Protesters started attacking the premises, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails until it caught fire, after which members of the group inside the headquarters started firing live ammunition.

Meanwhile, the trial of Badie, Beltagy and 46 other Brotherhood leaders accused of inciting violence on the Qalyub Agricultural Road was adjourned Sunday to February 15.

During the court session, Beltagy demanded an investigation into the death of his daughter Asmaa during the dispersal of Rabea last August.

He also demanded an investigation into his alleged assault in prison.