Turkish media reported last month that an Egyptian court had sentenced Abdul-Rahman al-Qaradawi, the son of Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, and two other defendants to prison for five years for allegedly spreading false news. According to the Anadolu Agency report:
March 1, 2017 An Egyptian court on Tuesday jailed three people, including the son of prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, for five years for allegedly spreading false news, according to a local judicial source.
The court said Abdul-Rahman al-Qaradawi and two other defendants were found guilty of spreading false news that harm state security, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
The three were also ordered to pay a $30 fine each.
Tuesday’s verdict is still subject to appeal.
Qaradawi’s son was previously slapped with a 3-year jail term on charges of spreading false news.
He is also sought by the authorities to stand trial on charges of offending the judiciary, in which former president Mohamed Morsi and 23 others are being tried.
Egyptian authorities have launched a harsh crackdown on supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group following a 2013 coup, killing hundreds and sending thousands behind bars.
In July 2013, Islamic media reported that Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi had sent his father a letter criticizing his father’s fatwa calling on the people of Egypt to back and reinstate the ousted president Mohammed Mursi.
Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi is the 46-year-old son of Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and is known to be a poet and journalist. Although there is no evidence that he is active in global Brotherhood circles, a reported published by the Global Muslim Brotherhood Research Center, our companion website, indicates that he attended or was expected to attend a February 2016 conference in support of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and sponsored by the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC), a long-standing political alliance of Salafi, Salafi/Jihadi, and Global Muslim Brotherhood leaders that includes US and European designated terrorists. The GAAC conference was held in Istanbul and was titled “Support in Al-Aqsa – a matter for the Nation [ummah]and priorities for action”. Also attending the conference were Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders as well as GAAC Executive Director Rabih Haddad, former chairman of the Global Relief Foundation – designated by the US in 2002 as a terrorist organization for its ties to and support of Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.