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Filmed confessions of Brotherhood members stir controversy

Rights lawyers are demanding Egypt’s Ministry of Interior to be held liable after releasing videos of suspects involved in an alleged Muslim Brotherhood plan to undermine the state’s security.

Egyptian judge Mohamed Shirin Fahmi (C) reads out a verdict and sentence as he presides over the retrial of members of the Muslim Brotherhood on charges of espionage with the Palestinian group Hamas at the Tora courthouse complex in southeastern Cairo on September 11, 2019. - An Egyptian court on September 11 sentenced senior Muslim Brotherhood figures to life, a judicial source said. The defendants included the Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat al-Shater who were both handed life sent
Egyptian Judge Mohamed Shirin Fahmi (C) reads out a verdict and sentence as he presides over the retrial of members of the Muslim Brotherhood on charges of espionage with the Palestinian group Hamas at the Tora courthouse complex in southeastern Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 11, 2019. — KHALED KAMEL/AFP via Getty Images

CAIRO — The Egyptian Ministry of Interior announced July 23 that it has “arrested a Muslim Brotherhood cell in Alexandria governorate, around 200 kilometers (124 miles) to the north of Cairo. The cell was spreading lies and rumors about the Egyptian regime, with the Egyptian Senate elections just around the corner, in August.”

Al-Monitor received a copy of the Ministry of Interior’s statement, which stated, “The National Security Agency [formerly the State Security] received information showing that several Muslim Brotherhood leaders who fled Egypt gave orders to Brotherhood members in Egypt to implement a Brotherhood plan.”

It continued, “The plan included spreading rumors and hubbub among citizens coinciding with the upcoming [Senate] elections by producing fabricated reports and media programs that include false information about the internal situation and the political leadership.”

On July 4, the National Elections Commission announced the date of holding the Senate elections on Aug. 11-12, six years after the dissolution of the Shura Council. The Ministry of Interior said in its statement that the Muslim Brotherhood cell wanted to spread rumors to target these elections.

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