Defendant in Fairmont Hotel gang rape case arrested during attempt to flee Egypt

CAIRO - 27 August 2020: A defendant in the notorious Fairmont Hotel gang rape case has been arrested and will be detained for four days pending investigations. 

 

Amir Zayed was arrested Wednesday as he was trying to flee the country like his seven co-defendants who traveled abroad in late July after their names were circulated on social media. 

 

The police are still locating another defendant, and the procedures to apprehend the seven other men outside Egypt are underway, although it is plausible that they traveled to countries without an extradition treaty with Egypt.

 

 In a Wednesday statement, the Public Prosecution said it has created an online means of receiving reports and complaints, emphasizing that an incident going viral on social media is still not considered official reporting. 

 

The Prosecution pleaded that cases of violence against women are reported swiftly, and that social media users refrain from posting the information of defendants, which is as important to hide as that of the victim for the sake of investigations.  The prosecution will continue to unilaterally investigate a case that surfaces online if found appropriate and with sufficient information, all the while perserving the freedom of people who are accused online without evidence. 

 

The General Prosecution office received Wednesday a memo from the National Council for Women (NCW) that includes a complaint sent to the Council by a female who was allegedly gang-raped in 2014 in Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo.

 

The complaint also includes testimonies made by others regarding the incident.

 

The General Attorney ordered to have the memo investigated, and the General Prosecution will announce the investigation results at the right time in order to preserve the accuracy and progress of the investigation.

 

A group of women took recently to the social media platforms accusing a group of upper-classmen of raping and abusing them back in 2014, sparking controversy on different social media platforms.