Egypt To Rule İn May On Appeal By Turk Jailed For Brotherhood Ties

An Egyptian court on Thursday set May 22 as the date on which it will rule on an appeal lodged by a Turkish national jailed earlier for allegedly having links with the Muslim Brotherhood group, a judicial source has said.



Late last month, Resat Ozturk, 46, was sentenced to three years in prison for "attempting to obtain information harmful to Egypt's national security" and "establishing contact" with the Muslim Brotherhood.



Ozturk, who works in textiles, was picked up by Egyptian authorities in the canal city of Suez last August.



The Turkish national emphatically denies the charges, saying he had only come to know Brotherhood members through social-networking websites.



In December of last year, Egypt's army-installed interim government designated the Brotherhood – the group from which ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails – a "terrorist" organization.



The move followed a deadly bombing of a Nile Delta security directorate – an act swiftly condemned by the Brotherhood, which has strenuously denied any connection to terrorism and says it remains committed to peaceful activism.



By Sayed Abdel-Nabi



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