Egyptian Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadeq referred on Sunday 28 defendants, including 19 fugitives, to State Security Emergency Criminal Court on charges of forming a group to topple the regime.
The defendants are accused of illegally forming a group called "the Egyptian Council for Change" that seeks to undermine state institutions, according to a statement from the prosecutor general's office.
It said the defendants formed the group in an attempt to obstruct the provisions of the constitution and laws to prevent state institutions from functioning and to undermine national unity.
They "provided the group’s elements with funds to promote its aggressive purposes, incite protests and spread false news inside Egypt and abroad to harm the country’s national and economic interests and topple its current regime."
Investigations carried out by the Supreme State Security Prosecution, headed by Counselor Khalid Diaa, revealed that one of the suspects, identified as Hossam el Din Atef el Shazly, formed the group to incite violence against state institutions and spread false news on social media and some TV channels about Egypt in order to topple the regime.
According to investigations, the so-called Egyptian Council for Change consists of a central committee with several specialized committees that attract elements locally and abroad and assign their duties through closed e-groups to incite against the current regime and state institutions.
The defendants confessed, during the investigations of the Supreme State Security Prosecution as well as the examination of seized devices and personal accounts on social media, that they have launched anti-government campaigns.
They also admitted to publishing false news on the official page of the Egyptian Council for Change as well as their personal pages on social media and some TV channels about the failure of the ruling regime in the country in facing political and economic crises and its exploitation of the citizens' properties.
They also published that the regime promotes sectarian strife within the country, fabricates incidents and anti-terror confrontations and the existence of a split in the ranks of the armed forces.
The Council describes itself on its official Facebook page as "a new generation of opposition, which works to end the era of military rule that has controlled Egypt's capabilities and built a democratic civil system."
It denies its subordination to any group, stressing that it “does not carry any reference, banner or address and does not belong to any community, group or entity”.
