CAIRO: Authorities filed an objection Wednesday to a court verdict that ruled it unlawful for the Egyptian president to transfer civilians to military tribunals, thus acquitting 40 high-ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) on Monday. According to members of the MB, the acquitted MB leaders will be kept in detainment until May 19 when a hearing on the new governmental objection will be held in Cairo's Abdeen Court. "This is clearly politically motivated and a violation of human rights. Our members have been acquitted by four different courts now, but are still imprisoned. The whole thing is just ridiculous, Ibrahim El-Houdaiby a member of the Muslim Brotherhood told The Daily Star Egypt. While El-Houdaiby was shocked over the extended detainment of his fellow members, he stressed that it did not come as a surprise to many of the detainees. "We can soon start a collection of all the court verdicts that have ordered our release. I expect to see more of this coming, one of the imprisoned leaders reportedly said. Deputy Brotherhood leader Mohamed Habib reportedly told Reuters that "the Brotherhood is used to this kind of behavior. This is the method of the regime and the ruling party. Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch was not surprised over the turn in the case either. "The continued detention of these senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood despite the Supreme Administrative Court s ruling did not come as a surprise. The government had already demonstrated shocking contempt for the rule of law and the courts by ignoring an independent court s acquittal of the defendants and its order that they be released, Elijah Zarwan from the organization's Middle East Division told The Daily Star Egypt. Tuesday's court verdict deeming it unconstitutional for President Mubarak to refer civilians to military tribunals came as a big surprise to many. "No one expected that kind of verdict. We were all very surprised, El-Houdaiby continued. Brotherhood members, including financial chief Khayrat El-Shater, were systematically arrested one by one throughout the month of December. Shortly after their arrest, their assets were frozen. In February, El-Shater et al were referred to military tribunal by President Mubarak, marking the first such decision since 2001. No official charges against the defendants have been made public, but El-Houdaiby said the charges included money laundering, terrorism, and attempts to revive the ideas of an outlawed organization. Since their arrest in December, the detainees have been acquitted and ordered to be released four times by Administrative Courts.
