“Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades” breathing last

Noura Al-Bendari

The Cairo Criminal Court terrorism circuit issued on October 14 death sentences for three defendants of 23 who were convicted of terrorism-related charges in the case known through the media as Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades.

Other four defendants were sentenced to life, and seven to 15 years, of rigorous imprisonment., as more nine were acquitted.

The Prosecution had referred the 23 to court  for establishing and running a terrorist group under Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades, and attacking citizens, police and army personnel and institutions. They were also accused of targeting Christians and their places of worship, and public facilities, seeking to create a state of chaos nationwide.

Foundation

The constitutive statement of Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades was issued in March 4, 2014, in the Delta governorate of Al-Sharqiya, under leadership of Al-Sayed Atta Mohammed Morsi, better known for Abu Omar, the first defendant in the case.

Abu Omar was charged with establishing, running and leading Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades, against provisions of law, for the major aim of disrupting the Constitution, blocking work of state institutions and authorities, attacking citizens’ personal freedoms, and damaging national unity and social peace.

Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades is differentiated from the Salafist “Ansar Al-Sharia” whose full name is “Al-Taliah Al-SalafiyahA Al-Mujaheda Ansar al-Sharia”, established by Salafi Jihadist Ahmed Ashush in November 2012. However, the Brigades were broadly affected by the latter. For Ashush’s Salafist group , all democratic mechanisms were “ flagrant infidelity,” and so it rejected democracy on “Sharia bases.”

The ousted Mohammed Morsi

Criminal record

Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades targted non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the first place, and committed acts of violence and vandalism against state institutions, exploiting  charity work as a cover for their terrorist thoughts that remained “hidden” after the January 25, 2011 Revolution, until the rise of Mohammed Morsi to power. The group has has branches in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Yemen.

The defendants initially stood trial on March 14, 2015, and proceedings ran through 54 sessions, eventually concluded on Sunday, October 14.

During the proceedings, the chief suspect Sayed Atta, and eight other defendants, were sentenced to a year in prison for contempt of court. Other 19 defendants were twice sentenced to two-year imprisonment for the same charge.

Elements of Ansar Al-Sharia Brigades received training on explosive and bomb making, planning to attack  police and military personnel as well as targeting major state institutions in the governorates of Al-Sharqiya, Giza and Beni Sueif, over the period August 2014, May 2014.