CAIRO, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- More than 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were ordered remanded to military court on charges of joining an illegal group and inciting public opinion against the Cairo government, security sources and lawyers said.
The sources, speaking Tuesday, said the detainees' files, on orders from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, were handed to the military prosecution as a prelude for referring them to the military court. If convicted, each of the men could be sentenced to five years in prison.
Defense lawyer Abdel Meneim Abdel Qaddous told United Press International that an investigation by the State Security Prosecution during the past few days led to the filing of charges against 22 members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Authorities said the detainees possessed banned publications, were running an organization in violation of the law and used the Palestinian intifada to incite public opinion against the government.
Abdel Qaddous said referring the 22 Muslim Brotherhood officials to the military court came as "a surprise because two groups of the Muslim Brotherhood command have been in detention for nearly six months and have been not been referred to trial while this 22-member group was quickly referred to the military court and this only a week after they were detained."
He said such a quick move came "may be under the influence of the tense climate resulting from the developments of war in Afghanistan and the international campaign to combat terrorism."
Among the detained Muslim Brotherhood leaders was Mahmoud al-Ghizlan who is considered a first-rank commander.
