13 November 2006
An Egyptian court acquitted prominent Islamist Hassan el-Hayawan yesterday after a second trial on the same charges of possessing weapons and inciting violence during last year's elections, judicial sources said.
Hayawan, a senior official of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Nile Delta province of Sharkia, was arrested in late 2005, acquitted in June, freed in September and rearrested in October.
After his first trial ended in an acquittal, Hayawan spent another three more months in detention awaiting release.
The Muslim Brotherhood said on its Web site that the presidency, acting as the office of the military ruler, had rejected the acquittal and asked for a retrial.
The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's strongest opposition group. Officially banned, it operates relatively openly but is subject to frequent crackdowns by the government, which often detains the group's members without charge for months at a time.
The Brotherhood holds nearly a fifth of seats in parliament, its members standing as independents to circumvent the ban.
Hayawan was the only Brotherhood member to be charged in connection with last year's parliamentary elections, although thousands were held without charge for brief periods.
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