Barakat was appointed as Prosecutor-General by Egypt's interim President Adly Ma

nsour after Abdel Meguid Mahmoud announced his resignation from the post in the
aftermath of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'tat. Barakat was sworn in on 10 July 2013.[
3]
On 14 July 2013, Barakat ordered the freezing of assets of 14 prominent Egyptian
Islamists: Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badie, and his deputies Kh
airat el-Shater, Mohamed Ezzat and Rashad Baioumy; Mahdi Akef, the Brotherhood's
former supreme guide; Mohamed Saad al-Katatny, head of the Freedom and Justice
Party, FJP deputy leader Essam al-Erian and general secretary Mohamed al-Beltagy
; Salafi preacher Safwat Hegazy; Essam Sultan, vice president of the Wasat Party
; Assem Abdel Maged, member of the Jamaa Islamiya Shura Council; Hazem Salah Abu
Ismail, Flag Party president; Tarek al-Zomor, Building and Development Party se
cretary; and former MP Mohammed al-Omda.[4]
On 18 December 2013, Barakat ordered the referral of deposed Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi to criminal court for charges of espionage in a statement under th
e title "The Biggest Case of Espionage in the History of Egypt". According to Ba
rakat's investigations, the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood
, allegedly aided by Hezbollah and Hamas, is accused of being the reason behind
violence within Egypt; members are accused of intending to create a state of ult
imate chaos after allegedly receiving media and military training in Gaza with t
he aim to implement jihadists in Sinai.[5]