Jordan’s Ministry of Social Development’s so-called committee for the dissolution of the country’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood issued Dec. 21 an official announcement in Jordanian newspapers on the decision of the Court of Cassation, whereby the judge declared that the group has been “dissolved and lost its legal status.” 

Based on the Court of Cassation’s ruling, the ministry also called upon creditors and debtors to refer to the ministry regarding any financial or legal claims from the Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood responded to the ministry’s announced in a statement Dec. 21 saying that the decision of the ministry’s committee came as “part of a broad official campaign to undermine the path of reform, democracy, freedoms and human rights in the country. There has been strict implementation of the Defense Law against a wide range of forces, parties, and unions, as well as national figures. The official measures aimed at ending political life, bypassing freedoms and human rights, and disrupting the path of national reform are still ongoing.”

These statements summarize a history of twisted relations between Jordan and the Muslim Brotherhood, which emerged with the country’s independence and the establishment of the state. The group was founded on April 19, 1945, under the direct sponsorship of the founding King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, who welcomed the group.