A court in Egypt sentenced a media tycoon Mohamed El-Amin with close ties to the government to three years in prison for his involvement in human trafficking and the indecent assault of underage girls at an orphanage he founded to three years in prison.
El-Amin, the owner of several influential media outlets, was arrested earlier this year after Missing Children, a humanitarian organization, made public allegations of sexual abuse at the orphanage.
According to the public prosecutor, he abused his authority and preyed on the girls’ vulnerability. El-Amin has denied the charges and has the right to appeal the sentence.
The decision to refer was based on the testimony of 13 witnesses, victim statements, an examination of Al-phone, Amin’s and medical reports.
According to investigators, the accused kept the victims in an orphanage he established, using his authority to sexually exploit them.
The investigations were carried out by the Ministry of Interior’s General Department for Combating Illegal Migration and Human Trafficking, as well as psychologists, social workers, the Ministry of Social Solidarity’s judicial control officer, and medical experts.
Al-Amin graduated from Alexandria University’s Faculty of Engineering before moving to Kuwait with his brother to work for a contracting firm.
He returned to Egypt in 2002 and invested more than 50 million Egyptian pounds in the CBC Group, which has grown to become one of Egypt’s most important satellite channels. He also purchased 85% of the Al-Nahar and Al-Nahar Drama channels.
Modern Group, Modern Sport, Modern Koura, Modern Freedom, and the Arab News Agency AUA were all acquired by Al-Amin. He founded the newspaper Al-Watan.