Egypt court removes Brotherhood leader from terror list

CAIRO (AA) – Egypt has decided to remove the name of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie from its official list of “terrorists”, according to a judicial source.

The source, preferring anonymity, told Anadolu Agency that the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest appellate court, had accepted an appeal against the inclusion of Badie’s name -- along with those of 50 other Brotherhood members -- on the list.

The court has yet to disclose its reasons for the decision.

In May of last year, a Cairo criminal court added the names of 51 Brotherhood members, including Badie’s, to Egypt’s official terrorist list.

But lawyers for the listed individuals, who also included leading Brotherhood members Mahmoud Ghozlan and Husam Abu Bakr, filed an appeal against the decision.

In 2013, Egypt’s military ousted Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely-elected president and a Brotherhood leader, in a bloody military coup.

Following Morsi’s overthrow, the Egyptian authorities cracked down on political dissent, killing hundreds of Brotherhood members and throwing thousands behind bars.