Trial of businessman Mohamed Amin over human trafficking postponed

CAIRO - 21 February 2022: The Cairo Criminal Court decided on Sunday to postpone the trial of well-known business and media tycoon Mohamed El Amin to March 20 over charges of human trafficking and assaulting underage girls residing at his orphanage in Upper Egypt.

Amin was referred to the court after he was charged by the prosecution of committing acts that are punishable by law against a number of girls at the orphanage he founded in Beni Suef.

The referral came after hearing the testimonies of 13 eyewitnesses, the confessions of the victims, the examination of the defendant’s mobile phone, the Forensic Authority’s reports, the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood and the physiological and social research department at the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

The statement issued by the prosecutor-general’s office on the case said that the investigation concluded that the defendant hosted the victims in an orphanage he owned – Upper Egypt's Safe Hands Home for Girls – for the purpose of sexual abuse. The statement added that he exploited their weakness, threatening to expel them from the orphanage if they reported him.

The statement revealed that the testimonies of the eyewitnesses included the girls in the orphanage, officials at the social solidarity ministry and the admin of Missing Children Facebook page.