CAIRO (AP) – An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced a former student at an elite university on charges of sexual misconduct and sentenced him to three years in prison, the first conviction in a case that fueled the #MeToo movement in most populous country in the Arab world.
The Cairo Economic Court convicted Ahmed Bassam Zaki, a former student at American University in Cairo, for blackmailing and sexually harassing two women.
Zaki is being tried separately in a criminal court on charges of rape and attempted rape by three other women who were minors at the time of the alleged crimes, according to court documents. In addition, he faces drug possession charges.
Tuesday’s verdict could be appealed to a higher court.
The former student was arrested in July after complaints about him surfaced on social media, resulting in a storm of criticism. The #MeToo movement aims to hold those involved in sexual misconduct and those who cover it up to account.
At the time, several attempts by The Associated Press to contact Zaki’s family and his lawyer were unsuccessful.
According to the accusations posted on social media, Zaki would target the pool of mutual friends on Facebook, online groups or school clubs, for women to target.
He started with praise and then pressured women and girls to share intimate photos with which he later blackmailed them if they didn’t have sex with him, according to the accusations. In some cases, he threatened to send compromising photos to family members.
Zaki comes from a wealthy family and studied at American International School, one of the most expensive private schools in Egypt, and at American University in Cairo. AUC officials said he left the university in 2018.
Zaki’s case, activists say, shows that misogyny crosses Egypt’s rigid class lines. Many in Egypt had previously portrayed sexual harassment as a problem for poor urban youth.
Sexual assault and harassment are profound problems in Egypt, where victims must also fight against the current of a conservative culture that normally links female chastity to a family’s reputation. In the courts, the burden of proof falls heavily on the victims of such crimes.
The allegations against the former student were collected by the Instagram account @assaultpolice. Since then, the report has played a crucial role in revealing an alleged collective rape that has shaken Egyptian society in recent weeks.
Allegations of sexual misconduct have also surfaced against several prominent human rights activists and journalists, but these allegations have not reached the courts.