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Egypt court sentences five to life over sexual harassment
An Egyptian court sentenced on Wednesday five men to life in prison for sexually harassing and attacking women during Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s inauguration celebrations held at Tahrir Square, the official news agency MENA reported.
The attacks dated back to June 8 when thousands of Egyptians flock to Tahrir square, the epicenter for toppling the long-ruling president Honsi Mubarak in 2011, to celebrate Sisi’s rise to power.
The accused were charged of terrorizing women by using violence and knives to attack the victims besides sexual harassing and attempting to rape them, said the presiding judge.
Following the inauguration ceremony, a graphic video, posted on Youtube and shared widely on social networking sites, showed a badly-injured woman stripped of her clothing being dragged through a large crowd to an ambulance. The footage triggered outrage in Egypt and abroad.
Soon after, Sisi made a highly-publicized visit to one of the victims and expressed his apologies. He ordered his interior minister to take all necessary measures to combat sexual harassment, describing sexual harassment as a phenomena “alien” to Egypt.
Another four persons in a separate case on Wednesday got up to 20 years in prison in a similar case over harassing and using violence against women during January 25 celebrations, which marked the anniversary for Mubarak’s ouster.
Sexual attacks have been rampant in large crowds in Egypt, most frequently during protests or demonstrations in Tahrir Square.
Women rights groups have estimated that more than 250 cases of “mass sexual rape and mass sexual assaults” occurred from November 2012 to January 2014.
