Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood, seizes assets and offices
Jordanians check the main entrance of the Muslim Brotherhood's office in Amman, which was sealed with wax after it was shut by police, Amman, Jordan on April 13, 2016. (AFP Photo)
Jordan officially outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, ordering the closure of its offices and the confiscation of all associated assets.
“All activities of the so-called Muslim Brotherhood are banned, and it is considered an illegal entity,” Interior Minister Mazin al-Farrayeh said during a news conference in Amman.
Al-Farrayeh said promoting the Brotherhood’s ideology is now a criminal offense and will lead to prosecution.
“Any activity by the group, regardless of its nature, is considered a violation of the law and will be met with legal consequences,” he warned.
The minister accused the group of endangering national stability, saying its continued actions “expose society to risks and threaten citizens’ lives.”
The announcement follows last week’s revelation that authorities had foiled plots targeting national security and detained 16 suspects.
Concealing ‘suspicious’ activities and connections
“On the same night (of foiling the plots), the Brotherhood attempted to smuggle and destroy large quantities of documents from its headquarters to conceal its suspicious activities and connections,” al-Farrayeh said.
He also claimed that authorities disrupted an attempt to manufacture and test explosives, allegedly orchestrated by the son of a Brotherhood leader. The intended targets, he said, were security forces and sensitive sites across the kingdom. No further details were provided.
The Muslim Brotherhood has long been a contentious force in Jordan. In July 2020, the country’s highest judicial authority, the Court of Cassation, formally dissolved the group.
The organization experienced internal fractures during the Arab Spring uprisings. In 2015, a faction split off to form the Muslim Brotherhood Association, which was later licensed by the government. The original Brotherhood denounced the move as a coup against its legitimacy.
