CAIRO, May 29 (UPI) -- Egypt's state security court extended the detention of two senior Muslim Brotherhood members in a fresh bid to clip the wings of the outlawed group.
The group's defense lawyer, Abdel Monem Abdel Maksoud, said Monday that the court called for the detention of Politburo head Issam Aryan and politburo member Mohammed Morsi to be extended for another 15 days for further investigation of charges of holding demonstrations and belonging to an outlawed organization.
Aryan and Morsi were arrested, along with dozens of Brotherhood followers, on May 18 for protesting against the trial of two reformist judges who appeared before a disciplinary court for making statements about violations and vote-rigging in last year's general elections.
Abdel Maksoud said the court also renewed the detention of 40 other Brotherhood members held on the same charges.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which won one fifth of parliament seats in November's elections, said as many as 700 of its followers had been rounded up in the protests against the trial of judges Husham Bastawisi and Mahmoud Makki, the deputies of the head of Egypt's court of appeal. Makki was acquitted and Bastawisi indicted.
In another development, the Muslim Brotherhood said police arrested 25 of its members during elections to the chamber of commerce in the northern coastal city of Alexandria Sunday.
It said the group's four candidates pulled out from the race to protest against police violations, including barring Brotherhood supporters from entering the polling center.
Most of those who have been arrested are tradesmen, the Brotherhood said.
