Businessman, and prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan Malek has been released on bail of EGP 20,000 (approximately R15,000) pending trial on charges of financing the MB and damaging Egypt’s economy.
Egypt’s state prosecution, however, can appeal Thursday’s bail decision.
Malek was arrested in 2015 on charges of collecting foreign currency from the Egyptian market and transferring it outside of the country with the aim of harming the national economy.
He was taken into custody at his home in New Cairo’s Fifth Settlement in October 2015, and has been in jail since pending investigations.
North Cairo Criminal Court upheld a decision by the prosecutor-general to freeze the assets of prominent MB leaders, including Malek’s which have been frozen since September 2014.
A businessman since the 1990s Malek has been involved in commercial and industrial enterprises, including manufacturing, electrical supplies and furniture.
His business partner and deputy chairman of the Brotherhood, Khairat El Shater, is in jail after being convicted of various charges.
The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in November 2013.
– By ANA
