Egypt shuts down Brotherhood newspaper

Office of Freedom and Justice daily raided and contents seized, days after court ordered movement’s funds frozen.

Egypt
Police stormed the newspaper's Cairo building overnight and removed the contents [Reuters]

Egyptian authorities have shut down the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice newspaper in Cairo.

It is the latest move aimed at crushing the Islamist movement, the Brotherhood said on Wednesday.

The move follow’s Monday’s decision by an Egyptian court to suspend the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and any associations. 

“We the journalists of the Freedom and Justice newspaper condemn the security forces for closing down the headquarters of the newspaper,” the Brotherhood said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

Police stormed the building overnight and removed the contents. A source at the Cairo Security Department said the
raid followed Monday’s court ruling which banned the Brotherhood and ordered its funds seized.

“A court ruling was issued to do it on charges of inciting violence and terrorism in the recent past,” a security source
said, referring to the operation.

Abdullah El Haddad, a London-based spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, told Al Jazeera that the military was moving not just to undermine his party, but against democracy.

“The Muslim Brotherhood will always be present on the street,” he said. “Our fight is with the military junta, our fight is with the deep state.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood has been deep-rooted in Egypt society for more than 80 years,” he said.

Zoher Sobky,  a retired Egyptian army officer and political analyst, said that “things have been going down the drain” since the 2011 uprising.

“The majority of the Egyptians, even those who supported the Muslim Brotherhood, have changed their minds,” Zoher Sobky told Al Jazeera.

Crackdown

Authorities in Egypt have cracked down on the Brotherhood since it overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in a popular coup on July 3. Morsi belonged to the Brotherhood movement.

Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters have been killed and thousands arrested since then.

The crackdown had forced many of the 50 journalists who produced the daily Freedom and Justice to work in secret to avoid arrest. The newspaper, named after the Brotherhood’s political wing, had focused on efforts to reverse what it called a military coup against an elected government.

The Brotherhood emerged from the shadows to win parliamentary and presidential elections after autocrat Hosni
Mubarak was overthrown in 2011.

Source: Reuters