Ahmed Bassam Zaki Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault

Ahmed Bassam Zaki, a 21-year-old student who was accused of sexual crimes by over 50 women in 2020, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting and blackmailing three underage girls.

The sentencing took place in a court in the Fifth Settlement, Cairo on Sunday 11 April. Zaki was also accused of threatening to release compromising material of the victims in order to blackmail them into sexual acts, and harassing multiple other women.

Last year, local media reported that Cairo Economic Court issued a decision sentencing Ahmed Bassam Zaki to three years in prison. The court also transferred the civil suit against the notorious sexual predator to the proper authorities for adjudication in charges of misusing social media, according to Al Masry Al Youm.

According to investigators, between 2016 and until 2020, Zaki allegedly used social media networks and instant messaging apps to sexually harass one of the plaintiffs, sending her explicit content with the intent of obtaining sexual favors.

Earlier last year, Egypt’s Public Prosecution charged Zaki with sexual assault, harassment and blackmail. According to authorities, Zaki sexually abused and extorted three underage girls, and pressured them and threatened to leak intimate, private details about them.

Accusations against Zaki first surfaced in July 2019 with the circulation of testimonies from over 50 women and girls claiming that the defendant has sexually abused them. The overwhelming testimonies, which were all published by Instagram initiative Assault Police, included detailed accounts of rape, statutory rape, child molestation, sexual and physical violence, blackmail and extortion, as well as sexual harassment and assault.

The story inspired nationwide uproar with social media users calling for the immediate apprehension of Zaki, who was arrested shortly after and confessed to blackmailing and intimidating his victims.