CAIRO // A military court yesterday dismissed charges against an army doctor accused of forcing a woman to have a virginity test in a military prison after a protest last year.
The case has been a rallying cry for critics of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), the generals ruling Egypt, because it appeared to confirm fears the military would use the same brutal tactics it had used during the Hosni Mubarak regime.
Mena, the Egyptian official news agency, said charges against the doctor, Ahmed Adel El Mogy, were dropped because of conflicting testimony from witnesses for the woman involved.
The judge said his decision came "from what has been proven in documents and based on my conscience", according to Mena. He said he had "not been subjected to any pressures".
The case cannot be appealed.
Samira Ibrahim, 25, the woman from the Upper Egypt city of Sohag who filed the case, emerged from the court in tears yesterday. She later struck a defiant stance on the social networking website Twitter, vowing to fight on.
"Nobody violated my honour. It's Egypt whose honour was violated. And I will go on 'till the end to get her rights," she wrote.
Ms Ibrahim recounted in an interview with The National this year that after being arrested among a group of protesters last March, she was taken to Hikestep military prison.
She was brought to a room for what she thought was going to be a routine search of her possessions but a woman instead told her to strip.
She said Mr El Mogy then examined her for five minutes, while her naked body was exposed within view of soldiers watching at the door.
He determined she was a "girl", meaning still a virgin, and demanded she sign a statement affirming it.
Ms Ibrahim and several other women were later sentenced to one-year in jail for attacking soldiers, disrupting traffic, being caught with Molotov cocktails and knives, among other charges, but her sentence was suspended and she was released.
Heba Morayef, a researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch who has worked closely with Ms Ibrahim, said the decision showed the military had never planned to act on evidence of the virginity tests.
"I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed," she said.
"I don't think there was ever an intention to have a proper judicial process that would punish officers involved. It was always an assessment of what was necessary to calm public anger.
"Maybe they thought they could get away with it."
Ms Morayef testified before the tribunal that a member of Scaf had admitted the use of virginity tests to her during a meeting last year. Amnesty International, another human-rights organisation, also said a Scaf official had confirmed the tests to its representatives during a meeting in June.
In those disclosures, the military officials said the tests were conducted to prevent allegations from detainees that they had been sexually assaulted while in custody.
One of the weaknesses of the case, according to Ms Morayef, was the fact that only the doctor who performed the tests was formally accused.
"The testimony showed that were a lot of senior military people involved in the decision-making [for the virginity tests]," she said. "I believe there was a cover-up ... they did not want to allow the military to be held responsible for this in the public's eye."
Ms Ibrahim had won in an administrative court on December 27, when a judge ruled the military had violated the rights of female demonstrators by testing their virginity.
The military said then it could not enforce the ruling because it was not an official policy of the military to conduct virginity tests.
It was unclear if the judge in the military tribunal reached a different conclusion about the existence of the tests themselves.
His decision was based on conflicting testimony from witnesses and he did not make a statement about the tests.
bhope@thenational.ae
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
WISH
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
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Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Company profile
Name: Oulo.com
Founder: Kamal Nazha
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2020
Number of employees: 5
Sector: Technology
Funding: $450,000
