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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Books Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A running clampdown
By Jailan HalawiProsecution authorities on Sunday ordered the arrest of 46 suspected members of the illegal Muslim Brotherhood and prolonged the detention of 35 others for one month. Although rounding up members of the banned group is not unusual, the timing and scope of the arrests left analysts divided as to whether they were simply part of a continuing confrontation or a warning to the Brotherhood ahead of parliamentary polls starting next week.
Some reports suggest that hundreds of Brotherhood members were taken into custody since the beginning of this year but other reports put the number in the thousands.
The charges levelled against suspected members by state security prosecutors are standard. They include "propagating the ideas of a banned group, endangering security, trying to infiltrate and control various political organisations and sectors of the population and possessing documents and literature for spreading the group's banned ideology."
Last Thursday, police in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria arrested the campaign manager and husband of the first woman Islamist to run for parliament. The two men were detained after a rally in support of Jihan El-Halafawi, who is campaigning for a People's Assembly seat in parliamentary elections whose first phase will start on Wednesday. Although affiliated to the Brotherhood, El-Halafawi had to run as an independent because the group has been banned since 1954. Despite the prohibition, the group not only continues to function but also wins over new members -- all in violation of the law.
Almost 200 members of the Brotherhood had organised the march in support of El-Halafawi. Security sources said that as they tried to disperse the crowd, marchers denounced them as "atheists" and refused to end the march peacefully.
Those detained include Ibrahim El-Zaafarani, assistant secretary-general of the Alexandria chapter of the Doctors Syndicate and El-Halafawi's husband. El-Zaafarani, 46, was first arrested in January 1995 along with 12 others who were the Brotherhood's most active members in Alexandria. The 13 as well as 69 members arrested afterwards, were put on a military trial in a move indicating the unprecedented deterioration of Brotherhood-government relations. Twenty-seven were found innocent and the remaining defendants were declared guilty and sentenced to terms ranging from three to five years imprisonment with hard labour.
At the time, analysts linked the clampdown and the military trial to the 1995 parliamentary elections which the Brotherhood had been planning to contest. El-Zaafarani received a three-year sentence and was released in March 1998.
According to a security source, speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly on customary condition of anonymity, "the [latest] arrests are not linked in any way to the elections. They are simply part of a continuous crackdown on any illegal group."
Brotherhood leaders insist that they are seeking to achieve their goals by peaceful and democratic means, but the government has long insisted that the organisation is bent on overthrowing the state.
"Security authorities do not negotiate with the Brotherhood. Our dialogue is limited to official, democratic political institutions that respect legitimacy and the law," the source said.
This ongoing confrontation, the source continued, is aimed at "reining in the Brothers and preventing them from infiltrating any state body."
Six Brotherhood members are running as independents in Alexandria, which is represented in parliament by 22 seats.
Related stories:
The Brothers' last sigh? 5 - 11 October 2000
Waiting for the Bar? 3 - 9 August 2000
Playing hard ball with the Brotherhood 29 June - 5 July 2000
Military courts to try Brothers 4 - 10 November 1999
Tightening the net 28 Oct. - 3 Nov. 1999
Message to the Brotherhood 21 - 27 October 1999
