Egypt clears virginity test medic
 | ||
| The legal action brought by Samira Ibrahim has put a stop to virginity tests on female protesters |
A military court in Egypt has acquitted an army doctor accused of carrying out forced "virginity tests" on women protesters, state media reports.
Ahmed Adel was cleared because the judge found contradictions in witness statements, Mena news agency said.
The case was brought by one of the women, Samira Ibrahim, who
said the "tests" took place after they had been detained during
protests last year.
Demonstrators gathered outside the court to protest against the ruling.
The practice drew an outcry after Ms Ibrahim and other women
spoke out about their treatment following their arrest during a protest
in Tahrir Square in March 2011 - weeks after the fall of President Hosni
Mubarak.
They said they were forced by the Egyptian army, while in
detention, to submit to a five-minute-long so-called virginity test by a
male doctor.
The army initially denied such tests had taken place, but a
senior general, speaking anonymously, later admitted that they had
happened.
Ms Ibrahim launched a legal challenge to prevent such tests
happening again, and Cairo's administrative court eventually ruled that
the tests were illegal.
But she said, before the trial of Ahmed Adel, that witnesses
she hoped would speak in her defence had changed their story at the last
minute, our correspondent reports from Cairo.
According to Mena, the judge said he made the ruling "from
what has been proven in documents and based on my conscience," adding
that he had "not been subjected to any pressures".
No comments:
Post a Comment