Egyptian TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam will attraction a 10-year jail sentence handed down by a Cairo courtroom that discovered her responsible of human trafficking, her lawyer mentioned on Monday.
In the newest twist in a virtually year-long saga, the courtroom additionally fined the 20-year-old Cairo University pupil 200,000 Egyptian kilos ($13,000) on Sunday for encouraging ladies to share footage on the video-sharing app in alternate for cash.
“We will demand restoration of the case proceedings because there are contradictions between the verdict and the merits on which the court’s decision is based,” mentioned lawyer Hani Sameh. “We hope that she can get a reduced jail sentence or an acquittal,” he informed the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Several ladies have been accused of “inciting debauchery” for difficult Egypt’s conservative social values, and the battle has moved on-line as using social media by younger Egyptians surges.
Hossam, who has about 900,000 followers on TikTok, was amongst 5 Egyptian social media influencers who had been sentenced to 2 years in jail in July 2020 for selling immorality by encouraging ladies to earn money via social media followings.
She was arrested after posting a video on Instagram explaining how ladies may earn as much as US$3,000 by broadcasting movies utilizing the video creation platform Likee, which authorities interpreted as selling ladies promoting intercourse on-line.
The different 4 members of the group had been Mawaddah Al-Adham, who was discovered responsible of sharing “indecent” images and movies along with her 1 million Instagram followers, and three males who had been discovered responsible of serving to the 2 ladies.
An attraction courtroom overturned the ruling in January, however launched new costs of human trafficking. The 5 accused had been launched in February, after spending eight months in jail.
On Sunday, all 5 had been discovered responsible of human trafficking and fined 200,000 kilos every.
Hossam was given the longest jail sentence – 10 years – with Al-Adham and the three males solely ordered to serve six years.
Sameh mentioned Hossam obtained the hardest sentencing as a result of she had not appeared in courtroom, regardless that “it was her legal right not to show up”.
The determination has outraged rights defenders.
“The ruling is harsh and exaggerated,” mentioned Reda Eldanbouki, govt director of the Women’s Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness.
“Such a verdict restricts the right to freedom of opinion and expression and aims to control women’s bodies and impose guardianship over their actions,” he mentioned. Eldanbouki mentioned the decision restricts ladies with imprecise labels like “protecting family values”.
The state-run National Council for Women was not accessible for remark.
Entessar el-Saeed, one other ladies’s rights activist and head of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, mentioned authorities had been unfairly singling out ladies – not males – of their efforts to “safeguard” household values. “We can see other videos and posts on social media by men justifying marital rape but with no reaction against them. Doesn’t that violate family values?” El-Saeed requested.