Egypt blacklists fugitives Moataz Matar and Mohamed Ali

CAIRO – 19 December 2022: An Egyptian court decided to put fugitives Moataz Matar and contractor Mohamed Ali and others on the country's terrorist lists for five years, according to the official gazette Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya.

The official gazette published the ruling of the First Circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court, approving the request of the Public Prosecution, registered No. 12 of 2022, to blacklist some individuals and entities.

The blacklisted individuals include pro-Muslim Brotherhood T.V. anchorman Moataz Matar, Sami Kamal al-Din, and Riyad Sinjab, Mohamed Ahmed Al-Hamid Ahmed Auf, Tariq Mahmoud Embarek Muhammad, and Mohamed Ali.

The decision came into force on the day of the publication in the official gazette.

On July 25, 2021, an Egyptian court ruled to notify International Interpol to arrest contractor Mohamed Ali and two other aides.

The fugitives are charged with publishing false news about the economic situation in the country, with the intent of disturbing public order.

Ali first fled to Spain where he posted videos criticizing the regime starting in September 2019 and later moved to the United Kingdom.

In November 2019, the Public Prosecution referred Ali to a criminal court on charges of VAT evasion two weeks after he was sentenced to five years in prison by the Tax Evasion Misdemeanor Court.