Ezzat, 77, was arrested during an apartment raid in Cairo last year and was succeeded by Ibrahim Munir as the acting general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

On 8 April, he was convicted on “terror” charges, and sentenced to life in prison.

Ezzat got acquainted with the Muslim Brotherhood as a boy in 1953. He enrolled in the Brotherhood class in 1962 and was one of the disciples of Sayyid Qutb.

He was a student in the Faculty of Medicine when he was arrested in 1965. He was sentenced to ten years and was released in 1974. He was a fourth-year student at the time.

He completed his studies and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in 1976, and his connection to the advocacy work in Egypt - especially with the well-educated students - remained until he went to work in Sanaa University in the laboratory department in 1981, and then traveled to England to complete his doctoral thesis. He then returned to Egypt and obtained his doctorate from Zagazig University in 1985.

He was chosen as a member of the Guidance Office in 1981. (ILKHA)