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| - Egypt's public prosecution on Tuesday said it had referred a man for criminal trial on charges of sexually assaulting three girls and attempting to blackmail them. "The public prosecutor ... has referred Ahmed Bassam Zaki to the criminal court for trial over assaulting and threatening three girls under the age of 18," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. The statement said his threats related to requests that the girls keep up a "sexual relationship" with him, otherwise he would "reveal matters that violated their honour". Claims against 22-year-old Zaki erupted online in July in the form of testimonies including an alleged rape and instances of assault against dozens of girls and women, some involving blackmail. Some alleged incidents involved girls as young as 14. Zaki, a former student of some of Egypt's most elite schools and the American University in Cairo, was arrested on July 4 and confessed to assaulting several girls, according to the prosecution. The case kickstarted a #MeToo campaign in Egypt, where women complain of rampant sexual harassment, an offence that was only criminalised since 2014. United Nations surveys say most women in the conservative country have been subject to harassment ranging from catcalling, pinching, groping or worse. Women are often reluctant to speak out fearing public shame and being blamed for dressing or acting "provocatively". Egypt's parliament last month approved amendments to the criminal code granting victims of sexual assault the right to anonymity. The recent #MeToo momentum laid bare shocking cases including a 2014 alleged gang rape of a woman at a luxury Cairo hotel. Authorities have arrested several suspects involved in that case, including three announced on Monday. mz/dwo
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