Egypt court sentences 2 to life for rape

An Egyptian court has sentenced two defendants to life in prison and one to 15 years for rape with two of the defendants being sentenced in absentia.

The court heard that the rape took place in a tourist compound on Egypt’s North Coast in 2015. Included in the evidence was a video showing two of the men sexually assaulting the victim.

The defendants were also suspected in the famous Fairmont Hotel rape case and their names were shared on social media last year.

In the summer of 2020, nine men were accused of drugging and raping a woman at a luxury hotel, the Fairmont Nile City Hotel in 2014. They were also accused of filming the rape and using the footage to blackmail the victim.

The attack was heavily reported on, particularly on social media, and the victim and witnesses to the case came forward.

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It was at the forefront of the press after a former AUC student Ahmed Bassam Zaki was exposed online as a serial rapist and sexual harasser and was later arrested.

However, in the Fairmont rape case, four female witnesses were later arrested and investigated for drug abuse, inciting debauchery, and participating in an orgy.

A young man who accompanied one of the witnesses to the police station was also arrested for his sexual orientation.

Amir Zayed, one of the three defendants sentenced yesterday, was arrested on 27 August 2020 whilst attempting to escape Egypt.

The other two defendants are Youssef Korra and Sherif El-Komy.

Earlier this year, Egypt’s prosecution announced that investigations into the Fairmont Hotel suspects led to their conviction in another rape case, this time on the north coast city of Marsa Matrouh.

In May, the investigation into the Fairmont Hotel rape case was closed, which the prosecutor said was because of lack of evidence.

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