Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members have been arrested over the past 12 months.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's main opposition group, has announced that it will take part in next month's parliamentary elections.
The Muslim Brotherhood will field candidates for 30 percent of the 508 parliamentary seats being contested, Mohamed Badie, the group's chairman, told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
The Muslim Brotherhood hopes to increase its seats in parliament from the current 20 percent level. In 2005, the Brotherhood won 88 out of 454 seats in parliament, with its candidates running as independents since the Egyptian government has banned the movement.
The government arrested over 5,000 Brotherhood members last year and has repeatedly attempted to target the group's top leadership and its funding resources.
"We are in a state of corruption and disruption that hasn't been seen before in the history of Egypt, therefore, the Muslim Brotherhood has to declare its position concerning the next parliamentary elections," Badie said during the press conference.
Prominent Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei had earlier called for a boycott of the elections.
The Muslim Brotherhood defended its decision to field candidates, saying that the Egyptian regime relies on force and not elections for its legitimacy.
"We participate for Egypt's sake," Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Essam el-Erian said. "Participation is the best way to expose the corruption of the regime."
