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| Africa North |
| Egypt sends 13 to trial for Tahrir sex attack |
| 2014-06-15 |
| Egypt's prosecution service has referred 13 men to trial for alleged sex attacks on women at Cairo's Tahrir Square, including during inaugural celebrations for new President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, officials have said. The attacks took place on January 25, 2013, as Egypt marked the second anniversary of the 2011 revolt, and on June 3 and June 8 this year as locals marked Sisi's election victory and inauguration, the prosecutor general's office said on Saturday. The 13 accused, including a minor, are charged with "kidnapping, raping, sexually attacking, attempting to murder and torturing the women", it said. If convicted of the charges, the defendants could be sentenced to life imprisonment. According to the Associated Press news agency, Sisi paid a visit to one of the survivors of the violence, issuing what may be the first presidential apology to a civilian and promising her to take tough actions against the attackers. Since the uprising that toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the problem of sexual harassment has worsened in Egypt, with women regularly attacked during rallies by groups of men in and around Tahrir Square, the epicentre of protests. Egypt, which had no specific law on sexual harassment, only recently approved penalties for such offences to include jail terms, fines or both. Harassers face between six months to five years in prison, with harsher sentences reserved for offenders holding a position of power over their victims, like being a woman's superior at work or being armed with a weapon. Along with the maximum five-year sentence, offenders can be fined up to 5,000 Egyptian pounds, or about $714, with the maximum fine reserved for harassers who use a weapon or pressure. |
| Posted by:Steve White |