Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday adjourned the trial of businessman Mohamed al-Amin over charges of human trafficking for molesting and threatening seven young girls.
The court is set to resume the trial on Wednesday with hearing the pleas of the defense and the Public Prosecution. Amin is being detained pending trial over the case. This is the second court session of the trial.
The Egyptian Public Prosecutor referred Amin to trial on February 5.
The prosecution said in a statement that the accusation against Amin was proven by the testimony of 13 witnesses, the statements of the victims, and what was found by examining the accused’s mobile phone.
More evidence came through reports of the Forensic Medicine Authority, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, and the Psychological and Social Research of the Ministry of Social Solidarity.
The investigations concluded that the defendant was harboring the victims in a home he established for orphans, abusing his authority over them to satisfy his desires.
He intimidated them with threats of beating and expulsion if they reported him.
The victims testified with details of the abuse they suffered. Investigations also found that Amin maintained a daily presence in the house where the incident occurred on successive days.
Police arrested Amin from his villa in Cairo in January on charges of human trafficking and acts punishable by law against girls in an orphanage that he founded in Beni Suef governorate, Upper Egypt.
State-owned media reported that the arrest came following a report to police, where two girls accused Amin of molesting them.
The police filed a case with the incident and referred it to the Public Prosecution to conduct further investigations.
Amin is the founder of the CBC channel group, Modern Sport channels, the Arab News Agency ANA, and Al-Nahar TV channels, in addition to being a partner in the Amer Group.
He has denied the accusations against him, claiming that in the two years the shelter was operating: “I’ve never made a mistake, and I have never done anything wrong. I treat them (the girls) like my children.”
