Cairo: An Egyptian court today ordered the dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the already banned Muslim Brotherhood movement, in yet another crushing blow to Islamists after the ouster of president Mohammed Morsi last year.
Egypt's High Administrative Court ordered the dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party and the liquidation of its assets.
The ruling will effectively prevent the banned Islamist movement from formally participating in parliamentary elections expected later this year.
The order comes after the Brotherhood was declared a terrorist group in December last year. It was accused of orchestrating a wave of violence to destabilize the country after the military overthrew Morsi in July 2013.
The Brotherhood has denied any connection to the jihadist militants based in the Sinai Peninsula who have killed hundreds of security personnel. Since the ouster of Morsi in July 2013, his group and loyalists have faced a state crackdown.
Thousands are currently in prison and hundreds have been killed in clashes with security. State authorities accuse the group of waging militant attacks across the country.
The Brotherhood has denied any connection to the jihadist militants based in the Sinai peninsula who have killed hundreds of security personnel.
At the same time, more than 1,000 people have been killed and 16,000 detained in a crackdown by the authorities on Morsi's supporters.
In the parliamentary elections of 2011-12, the first after the revolution against Hosni Mubarak, the recently founded Freedom and Justice Party won the largest number of seats, at 47 per cent.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the former military chief who was elected head of state in May, has vowed to wipe out the group.
The poll was boycotted by the Brotherhood and many liberal activists.
The 85-year-old Islamist movement was first banned by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered itself as an NGO in March 2013 in response to a court case brought by opponents who contested its legal status.
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