Egyptian Businessman Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Human Trafficking

Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Amin. (Facebook)
Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Amin. (Facebook)
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Egyptian Businessman Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Human Trafficking

Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Amin. (Facebook)
Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Amin. (Facebook)

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced on Monday renowned Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Amin to three years in prison and fined him 200,000 Egyptian pounds after finding him guilty of human trafficking.

His case was exposed in January while his first trial was in March.

Al-Amin is a media and real estate tycoon who owned and managed several television channels and newspapers in Egypt.

The prosecution had referred Al-Amin’s case to the criminal court last February. It found him guilty of human trafficking when he exploited seven girls at an orphanage he founded in the southern Beni Suef province and of sexually assaulting the victims and threatening them with violence.

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 prosecutor-general’s office said in a statement that Al-Amin housed the victims in the orphanage for the purpose of sexually abusing them.

During the investigations, the exploited girls testified against Al-Amin.

Evidence collected from the his mobile phone contained a number of photos of the victims that revealed he was with them and proved he frequently visited the orphanage.

The owner of the Facebook page Atfal Mafqooda (Lost Children) had presented evidence, releasing a recording of one of the girls describing the abuse she endured.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity intervened in the case, pledging to respond with full force to any violations at social welfare institutions.

The Ministry said it will not hesitate in referring such cases immediately to the Public Prosecution for necessary action against the perpetrators, regardless of their positions.



Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.