MPs approve draft law sentencing funders of terrorist groups to death

CAIRO – 10 February 2020: The parliament’s legislative committee on Sunday approved amendments suggested by the government to counter-terrorism law, toughening the penalties of terror-related crimes and sentencing those funding terrorist groups or acts to death.

Terrorism, according to the amendments to the law no.94, 2015, includes leaving for another country to commit, plan, participate in or provide any support to a terrorist act.

Funding terrorism includes gathering, receiving, possessing, supplying, or transferring of money, weapons, ammunition, explosives, data or information, to any individual or collective terrorist activity that is systematic or unsystematic, whether at home or abroad, and whether directly or indirectly, whatever its source and by any means, including the digital or electronic form.

Whoever commits a terrorist financing crime will be sentenced to life (25 years in prison) in case the funding went to a terrorist individual, and will be sentenced to death if the financing went to a terrorist group or to back a terrorist act.

The same penalty will be applied if an individual provided funds to help other persons leave the country for the purpose of committing, planning, preparing or participating in a terrorist act.

The amendments also hit the terrorist group by a fine of no less than LE 100,000 and not exceeding LE 3 million.

Since the ousting of late President Mohamed Morsi, who was also a leader at the Muslim Brotherhood "terrorist" group, the Egyptian judiciary has placed hundreds of Egyptian persons and entities on the terror list.

According to the act on the regulation of the lists of terrorist entities and persons issued in 2015, the inclusion of any group or person on these lists is automatically followed by the seizure of their funds and the issuance of travel bans. In case those designated as "terrorists" are abroad, they are placed on the country's watch list.