Egypt: Assets of Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood figures frozen

Deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and his aides were among more than one hundred Muslim Brotherhood (MB) figures whose assets were frozen on Monday, state-run daily al-Ahram reported.

The list, which was made by a committee affiliated with the justice ministry, featured prominent members of the banned group, such as former supreme guide Mohamed Badie, former parliament speaker Saad al-Katatny, as well as Khairat al-Shater, Essam al-Erian, Mohamed al-Beltagy, and others.

According to al-Ahram, MB figures featured on the list were named among terrorist entities against the backdrop of the case publicly known as the "Hamas espionage case and prison break-in", in which Morsi received a death sentence.

The justice ministry formed the committee authorised to monitor the assets of MB members in 2013, after a Cairo court declared the group a terrorist organisation, banning all its activities and ordering the confiscation of its capital, as well as freezing the assets of its members and any affiliated entities.

One public figure whose assets were frozen on suspicion of financing the Muslim Brotherhood was former football star Mohamed Aboutrika, who had publicly endorsed Morsi's presidential bid in 2012.

However, the verdict against Aboutrika was reversed in June 2016, as administrative courts issued several rulings cancelling the committee's decision to freeze the group's assets.

Qatar espionage case

In what has become publicly known as the "Qatar espionage case", Morsi filed an appeal on Monday against a 40-year prison sentence he received in June.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for "leading a banned group", and another 15 years for "leaking classified information concerning state security".

The lawyers requested a re-trial for all the defendants in the case, arguing that the court "violated the rights of the defense team" and that there were errors in the implementation of the law.

The list featured prominent members of the banned group, such as former supreme guide Mohamed Badie, former parliament speaker Saad al-Katatny, as well as Khairat al-Shater, Essam al-Erian, Mohamed al-Beltagy, and others.

In the same case, six of Morsi's co-defendants were handed death penalties after being convicted of leaking sensitive information about Egypt's armed forces to Qatar.

Among them was Egyptian journalist Asmaa al-Khatib, who was in Turkey when she was sentenced in absentia.

Katib told The New Arab in May that her first reaction was a mixture of confusion and laughter, as she considered the verdict "worthless".

"I do not acknowledge the legitimacy of this regime or its judiciary, and I know it will fall sooner or later," she said.

The former President was toppled in 2013 in a military coup led by Egypt's current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was the defence minister at the time.

Since Morsi's overthrow, a police crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.