AFRICA LAW & JUSTICE

EGYPTIAN TYCOON JAILED FOR ASSAULTING ORPHAN GIRLS IN HIS ORPHANAGE

EGYPTIAN TYCOON JAILED FOR  ASSAULTING ORPHAN GIRLS IN HIS ORPHANAGE
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Faith Nyasuguta 

An Egyptian court has sentenced a businessman to three years in prison for trafficking and sexually assaulting seven underage girls at an orphanage he founded, judicial sources told AFP.

He was also fined 200,000 Egyptian pounds (US$11,000).

The media and real estate tycoon Mohamed el-Amin was arrested in January on accusations that he had sexually assaulted the young girls at an orphanage in Beni Suef, about 100 kilometres south of Cairo.

Amin, who owned the popular CBC television network before it was sold in 2018, faced up to 25 years in prison.

According to a judicial source, the three-year prison sentence can be appealed. Amin’s relatives burst into tears in the courtroom on hearing the verdict.

The tycoon sexually assaulted orphaned girls /Kaiptc/

The case only come to public attention after a Facebook page accused Amin of sexually assaulting young girls.

In addition to witnesses who “confirmed the testimonies of the victims”, images were found on the businessman’s phone during the investigation and recordings were produced of the victims recounting the assault, judicial sources said.

The prosecution said the victims accused Amin of regularly assaulting them “without their consent”.

“He abused his power against the orphan girls, whom he sexually assaulted and threatened to expel (from the orphanage) if they reported him,” it said.

Three years is the lightest penalty provided by Egyptian law, which lays out a maximum 15-year sentence for sexual assault.

However, the penal code sets a minimum sentence of seven years if the victim is a minor or if the perpetrator wields power over the victim, with a maximum penalty of life in prison (25 years) if both conditions are met.

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Faith Nyasuguta

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