Number of Hope Plan defendants increase to 18: sources

CAIRO – 2 July 2019: The number of defendants accused of joining the so-called Al-Amal (Hope) Plan cell, believed to be formed by the Muslim Brotherhood group, has increased to 18 people, legal sources revealed, 13 of whom were imprisoned, and five are runaways.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been designated by the Egyptian state as a terrorist group since late 2013, following violent clashes between their supporters and the police forces in August of the same year.

The defendants are accused of joining and funding a terrorist group that was unlawfully established, and also using social media platforms to disseminate fake news.

This comes after Taqwa Abdel Rady and Lo’yaSabry, two female defendants in the case were detained for 15 days pending investigation.

Moreover, the State Security Prosecution ordered seizing the funds of a number of defendants including politicians and economy figures in the case. It also ordered banning the defendants from travelling outside the country.

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.

Security authorities also ordered moving the defendants, including Qassem Abdel Kafi, to Cairo's Tura Prison, after the prosecution had ordered detaining the defendants for 15 days pending investigations.

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.

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.