Aug. 4: Court to decide on request to seize funds of 'Hope plan' defendants

CAIRO - 2 August 2019: Cairo Criminal Court set August 4 to decide on a prosecution request to seize the funds of the defendants in the case known as the "Hope Plan," and ban them from traveling outside the country.

Hope Plan, according to a security statement, is a terrorist plot by Muslim Brotherhood leaders to target the state facilities institutions. The arrested figures are believed to be Muslim Brotherhood operatives. The number of the defendants listed in the case is 18.

The State Security Prosecution had ordered detaining the defendants, seizing the funds of a number of defendants including politicians and economy figures in the case and banning them from travelling abroad.

Defendants in the case include Moustafa Abdel Mo'ez, Osama al-Akabawi, Omar al-Shenety, Hossam Mo'nis, Zyad al-Elemy, Hisham Fouad, Hassan Barbari, Ahmed Tammam, Khaled Abu Shadi, Lo'ya Sabry and Taqwa Abdel Rady.

The runaways are Ayman Nour, owner and manager of pro-Muslim Brotherhood Al-Sharq TV; pro-Muslim Brotherhood TV presenters Mo'taz Matar and Mohamed Nasser; and Muslim-Brotherhood-affiliated figures Mahmoud Hussein and Ali Bateekh.

According to a statement by the Interior Ministry, the scheme worked on uniting the Brotherhood group members, funding them from the revenues of some economic entities as they sought to topple the state and its institutions on the June 30 Uprising anniversary.

Information received by the National Security Service revealed that the plan is focused on establishing routes for the financial funds sent illegally from abroad by some hostile countries to work on carrying out violent acts across the country to disrupt celebrations of the revolution's anniversary, the statement said.

The statement also noted that the scheme aimed at launching "inciting" campaigns in the media and on the social media and satellite TV channels that are broadcast from outside the country.

Acting on such information, security forces, in coordination with the High State Security Prosecution, targeted 19 economic entities which are secretly run by the MB leaders and seized documents, amounts of money and electronic devices that were in their possession, the statement added.