Has Egypt Brought The Muslim Brotherhood to Its Knees?

Egypt’s high court has issued a ruling on the Muslim Brotherhood outlawing its activities and freezing its assets.

Legal expert Asharaf Mohammed told euronews: “The judgement from the court is correct by law. It was issued on a purely legal basis and not driven by any political or partisan pressure.”

In the democratically-elected government of Mohamed Morsi, the Brotherhood dominated. Since Morsi’s removal from power by the military in July, hundreds of Brotherhood members have been killed and thousands arrested.

Morsi’s critics accused him and the Brotherhood of trying to turn the country into an Islamist, authoritarian state. His overthrow was prompted by mass street protests against his rule.

Referring to the high court ruling, one Cairo resident said “They [the Muslim Brotherhood] have been rejected by the people themselves, no one deals with them. I’m sad for this result and I hadn’t been hoping for it, but it’s been caused by their failure.”

Egypt has announced that it will be rolling back constitutional changes brought in during Morsi’s one-year rule.

Some pro-Morsi activists say all the measures to quash the Brotherhood will have little effect. The movement, founded in 1928, has been banned in Egypt for much of history and has survived all threats to its existence.

Euronews correspondent Mohammed Shaikhibrahim reported from Cairo: “The question remains – how can Egypt achieve real national reconciliation after the decision to remove the Muslim Brotherhood from the political scene? It’s been a major political force for decades.”

Source: Euronews