Muslim Brotherhood to appeal ICC decision on Egypt

CAIRO — The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party will appeal an earlier decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reject a complaint against alleged crimes perpetrated by the current authorities in Egypt, said a senior party leader.

"We've been contacting the court for five months now," Mohamed Soudan, the head of the party's foreign relations committee, told Anadolu Agency late Sunday by phone from London.

"If the court really lacks jurisprudence on the case, it would have told us from the beginning," he added.

Soudan dismissed as "political and not legal" the ICC's recent decision to reject the case against Egyptian authorities, citing lack of jurisprudence.

Secretary-General of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood Ibrahim Mounir also criticized the ICC decision.

Egypt's army ousted Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader, in July last year following mass protests against him.

Morsi contested the 2012 presidential elections as president and candidate of the Brotherhood's party.

In the ten months since his ouster, Egyptian authorities have launched an all-out crackdown on political dissent, putting thousands of opponents – including most Muslim Brotherhood leaders – in jail.

Hundreds of Morsi backers were also killed and thousands injured on August 14 of last year, when security forces violently dispersed two major pro-Morsi support camps in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Giza's Nahda squares.