Reuters is reporting that Zaki Bani Rushaid (aka Zaki Bani Rsheid), a leader in the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, has been put on trial in Jordan, charged with criticizing ties with the UAE over the UAE designation of the Brotherhood as a terrorist group. According to the report:
Zaki Bani Rushaid
December 22, 2014 Prominent Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood figure Zaki Bani Rushaid went on trial on Monday on charges of ‘souring ties with a foreign country’ after he criticized the United Arab Emirates for designating his organization as a terrorist group.
Asked whether he was guilty, a defiant Bani Rushaid told a military judge presiding at a state security court he had not ‘committed any crime that warranted being held accountable for’.
The mainstream Islamist politician, who is deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested a month ago after writing on social media that the rulers of the United Arab Emirates lacked popular legitimacy and served Israel’s interests by playing a leading role in a crackdown on political Islam.
Bani Rushaid’s remarks followed the UAE’s move to designate as terrorist around 80 Islamist groups and charities that the Gulf state views as a security threat.
His arrest, on charges that carry a minimum prison term of three years, is the first such detention of a senior opposition politician in Jordan in recent years.
The GMBDW reported in May 2010 on the election of Zaki Bani Rsheid, described as a “hardliner” and a “hawk”, as the secretary-general of the Islamic Action Front (IAF). The IAF is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. A post from 2009 had reported on his earlier resignation from the IAF in a dispute within the movement.
The GMBDW reported in November on the UAE list of terrorist organizations that included a large number of groups tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
