Malaysia Deports 4 Muslim Brotherhood Affiliates to Egypt

Mohammed Abdel Hafiz. Twitter
Mohammed Abdel Hafiz. Twitter
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Malaysia Deports 4 Muslim Brotherhood Affiliates to Egypt

Mohammed Abdel Hafiz. Twitter
Mohammed Abdel Hafiz. Twitter

After the deportation of an Egyptian political asylum seeker and member of the Muslim Brotherhood from Turkey last month, Malaysian authorities decided to deport four Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members on Wednesday.

The Malaysian government found that the four Egyptians they were sentenced to life imprisonment in serious cases in their country, expert on fundamentalist movements in Egypt Amr Abdel Moneim told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Muslim Brotherhood activists launched campaigns on social media to exert pressure on Malaysian authorities to stop the deportation process of the Egyptians, who have been residing in Malaysia for four years now.

The defendants were identified as Abdullah Mohamed Hashim and Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz, who are students in the International Islamic University, and Mohamed Fathi Eid and Azmi Mohamed, who were teachers.

Mohammed Abdel Hafiz, who has been sentenced to death in Egypt on charges of targeting former Egyptian Attorney General Hisham Barakat, was forced onto a plane to Cairo on January 18 after he landed at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

After his deportation, a state of terror prevailed among Muslim Brotherhood members, fearing they face Abdel Hafiz’s fate.

Muslim Brotherhood members in Turkey also broadcast videos on social media, in which they launched an attack on the organization, claiming that its leaders had “abandoned” them in Turkey.

“Reasons behind deporting four young Brotherhood members from Malaysia were their attempt to incite against Egypt and recent death sentences its courts have issued,” said Abdel Moneim.

They launched a campaign against Egypt in the Malaysian parliament and government, he added, noting that they failed to notice the agreement between Egypt and Malaysia to extradite those convicted of violence and sentenced to prison terms.

Egyptian interior ministry has earlier executed nine prisoners, who were convicted over the 2015 killing of Egypt’s former public prosecutor.

This has pushed leaders of the organization fleeing abroad to question the verdicts of the judiciary.



Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
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Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)

Tunisia's coast guard on Monday recovered the bodies of eight African migrants after their boat sank off the country's coast as it sailed towards Europe, a security official told Reuters, adding that 29 other people were rescued.

The boat sank in waters off the city of Abwabed near Sfax, a departure point often used by African migrants.

Search operations were underway for possible missing persons, said Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official in the national guard.

Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as a major departure point for both Tunisians and others in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.