Cairo court orders conditional release of ten pro-Brotherhood Islamist figures

A Cairo criminal court ordered Saturday the conditional release of ten leading Islamist members of the now-banned National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy who are facing various criminal charges.

The ten men will be under house arrest as part of the conditions of the release.

The coalition was an Islamist umbrella group that was formed in late June 2013 to support then-embattled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, continuing to do so for months after his ouster.

The High State Security Prosecution has already appealed against the conditional release decision.

The defendants, who are facing various charges including “spreading lies” and “inciting violence in a way that led to the disturbance of public peace”, include coalition spokesman Magdi Korkor, the former head of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party.

Magdi Hussein, who headed the Istiqlal Party, and Nasser Abdel-Salam, chairman of the Building and Development Party, the political wing of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, were also among the ten defendants ordered to be released.

The coalition included a number of Islamist parties and was led by the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi, who has been behind bars since July 2013, is standing a number of trials on various criminal charges.

source: Ahram Online