Egyptian women shout slogans and hold banners during a protest against sexual assaults (file photo)
Credit: AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File
An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced a man who triggered a large #MeToo campaign earlier in the country this year to three years in prison for sexually harassing and blackmailing two women.
Ahmed Bassam Zaki, a former student of the prestigious American University in Cairo, is also being tried in a separate criminal court next month on charges of rape and the attempted rape of three minors, according to court documents.
The allegations against Zaki were collected and made public by an Instagram account, which received over 100 complaints against him, prompting his arrest.
It is alleged he would find females to target by searching through mutual friends on Facebook, online groups or school clubs.
He would start with flattery, then pressure the women and girls to share intimate photos that he later used to blackmail them with if they did not have sex with him, according to the accusations. In some instances, he threatened to send compromising pictures to family members.
A judicial source told AFP news agency that on Tuesday he was found guilty of "sexually harassing two girls over the phone, sending sexual photos to one of them and repeatedly contacting the other without her consent."
Zaki, in his early 20s, was arrested on July 4 and confessed to assaulting and blackmailing six women, one of whom was a minor.
Women face widespread sexual harassment in Egypt, despite it being a criminal offence since 2014. Many women fear they will be publicly shamed for speaking out or that the blame for their assault will be put on their actions or outfits.
Zaki’s case quickly prompted a large #MeToo campaign in a country where women face widespread sexual harassment.
The National Council for Women said that within five days of his case being made public it received 400 complaints, mainly about violence against women.
Zaki can appeal against the verdict.
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