Egypt Hotel Gang Rape Allegations Ignite New #MeToo Wave

Barrons – AFP, July 30, 2020

Protesters in 2013 hold up placards and shout slogans during a demonstration
against sexual harassment in Egypt's capital Cairo. Khaled DESOUKI

A gang rape allegation at a luxury hotel in Egypt stemming from a prominent social media account has triggered a new #MeToo wave in the deeply conservative country.

The alleged assault took place at the five-star Fairmont Nile City hotel in Cairo in 2014 where a group of six men drugged and raped a young woman, according to several social media accounts

Names and pictures of the figures accused, who hail from elite families, have circulated online, but AFP has been unable to verify their authenticity.

AFP spoke to a source close to the victim who corroborated details of the 2014 rapes posted online.

The victim was unwilling to comment publicly for fear of a backlash.

No official investigation has been launched so far, as tweets flood in under the hashtag #FairmontIncident.

Young Egyptian women posting testimonials of sexual misconduct earlier this month triggered a national outcry which led to the arrest of Ahmed Bassam Zaki, 22, a former student of some of Egypt's most elite schools and universities.

On July 4, authorities detained Zaki who confessed to assaulting at least six girls including one aged under 18 and blackmailing the victims, according to prosecutors.

Egypt's National Council for Women on Wednesday condemned retaliatory threats made against women exposing sexual misconduct.

The council "stands by every woman and girl exposed to any... threat by providing all necessary support", it said.

It also called on females "who might be subjected to harassment and/or threats to immediately report through the official reporting mechanisms".

Egypt's minister of international cooperation, Rania al-Mashat, for her part, posted a supportive message on Instagram: "To all the girls out there, we hear you".

The Fairmont Hotel has said it carried out an investigation of the graphic claims posted online.

"An internal investigation was undertaken by the hotel upon receipt of knowledge of the disturbing allegations," Yara ElDouky, Fairmont's communication director, told AFP.

"We can confirm that at no time were any reports of the incident filed to the hotel, nor to the hotel’s tourism police," she said.

"All personnel at the hotel are committed to assisting the relevant authorities and we will continue to offer our unfettered support," she added.

The allegations come as Egypt sentenced to jail several young female influencers on popular app TikTok on charges of violating public morals.

A 2013 study by UN Women found that 99% of women in Egypt had at some point in their lives been sexually harassed, either verbally or physically.

In Egypt, sexual predator case reignites #MeToo debate

Yahoo – AFP, Menna Zaki and Hager Harabech, July 16, 2020

A woman in Egypt checks an Instagram account for reporting allegations of
sexual harassment and misconduct (AFP Photo/Khaled DESOUKI)

Cairo (AFP) - Egypt has seen a strong resurgence of the #MeToo movement after dozens of women made shocking claims of sexual abuse and assault by a member of the country's wealthy elite.

Amid a campaign unprecedented in its intensity in the deeply conservative country, state and religious authorities have started to take a firmer stand.

The latest outpouring of anger, on the Instagram account "Assault Police", centres on allegations against Ahmed Bassam Zaki, a 22-year-old former student of some of Egypt's most elite schools and universities.

They have ranged from claims that he took part in a rape at the gym hall of a gated residential community to screen-grabs showing salacious messages and blackmail of women. Some alleged incidents involved girls as young as 14.

Police on July 4 arrested Zaki who, according to prosecutors, has confessed to assaulting at least six girls including one aged under 18 and to blackmailing the victims.

While Zaki is awaiting trial, his case has kicked off a wave of other complaints in a society where, United Nations surveys say, most women have experienced catcalling, pinching, groping or worse.

In this file photo from 2013 protesters hold up placards and shout slogans during
a demonstration against sexual harassment in Egypt's capital Cairo (AFP Photo/
Khaled DESOUKI)

"Women immediately jumped at the opportunity to vent and tell their stories," the Instagram page administrator told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"It is now bigger than Ahmed Bassam Zaki. We receive a dozen messages per minute from girls and women telling of personal incidents of harassment, abuse and rape, some dating back years."

Victim-blaming

Following Zaki's arrest, the campaign has swept up other well-known figures.

One of them is Mohamed Hashem, a writer and founder of a top publishing house, who was detained over harassment allegations but later released on bail.

The current momentum builds on earlier #MeToo waves in Egypt, the latest in January following a mob assault on two women in Mansoura, north of Cairo, on New Year's Eve.

The Zaki case highlights that sexual assault and harassment -- widely perceived to be more prevalent among the poorer classes -- pervades all levels of society.

Zaki is a former student of the prestigious American University in Cairo. He briefly went on to study in Barcelona but was expelled this month after a claim of online harassment by another student.

A protester at a 2013 rally in Cairo holds a placard pledging an 'uprising of 

women in the Arab world' (AFP Photo/Khaled DESOUKI)

"We are talking about Class A, the creme de la creme of society who enrol in universities and schools worth tens of thousands of pounds annually," said Fathy Farid of Aman, an initiative against gender-based violence.

Campaigners hope the case will help shift attitudes in Egypt, which only criminalised sexual harassment in 2014.

Women in Egypt are often reluctant to speak out about sexual harassment, fearing public shaming and being blamed for wearing "provocative" clothing.

'A safer place'

In stark contrast to the #MeToo revival, Egypt has also seen an ongoing campaign targeting female TikTok influencers accused of "indecency and immorality".

Among recent cases is that of a 17-year-old girl who was arrested after posting a TikTok video in which she said she had been gang raped by a group of young men.

These girls "suffer discrimination and bullying" and their arrests "are part of violence against women because they come from lower classes," said lawyer Intesar al-Saeed.

Campaigners hope to shift attitudes in Egypt, which only criminalised sexual 

harassment in 2014 (AFP Photo/Khaled DESOUKI)

The Instagram group administrator also reported "a lot of these messages" attacking the women, but added that "they are nothing compared to the messages of support".

As more online testimonies have kept pouring in, the National Council for Women said it had received at least 400 complaints and enquiries on sexual harassment and abuse.

The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has taken some action.

His cabinet has approved amendments, yet to be passed by parliament, to the criminal code that would grant the right of anonymity to victims of sexual assault.

And the prestigious religious institution Al Azhar released a strongly-worded statement lambasting harassment as "forbidden and deviant".

The Dar al-Iftar, in charge of issuing religious edicts, slammed those who blame women for wearing provocative clothing as "sick".

The Instagram activist said the goal is, "if we're not forced to shut down the account for any reason, to turn Assault Police into a platform for women to share their stories.

"We are optimistic about making this country a safer place for women."

Islamic scholar Ramadan targeted by new rape complaint

Yahoo – AFP, 25 August 2019

Tariq Ramadan is a married father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt's
Muslim Brotherhood

Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar charged in France with raping two women, has also been accused of taking part in the gang rape of a journalist, French judicial sources said Sunday.

The sources confirmed reports on Europe 1 radio and in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that a woman in her 50s had accused Ramadan, 56, of raping her along with a member of his staff when she went to interview the academic at a hotel in Lyon in May 2014.

The woman, who filed a criminal complaint in May 2019, also accused Ramadan of issuing "threats or acts of intimidation" aimed at dissuading her from reporting the alleged attack to the police, the judicial sources added.

Ramadan, a married father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, was a professor at Oxford University until he was forced to take leave when rape allegations surfaced at the height of the "Me Too" movement in late 2017.

He has denied charges he raped a disabled woman in 2009 and a feminist activist in 2012.

He was taken into custody in February 2018 and held for nine months before being granted bail.

Authorities in Switzerland are also investigating him after receiving a rape complaint in that country.

His lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, refused to comment Sunday on the latest allegations against him in France.

The woman behind the latest complaint told police that Ramadan and a male assistant repeatedly raped her in Ramadan's room at the Sofitel hotel in Lyon.

She described the alleged attack as being of "untold violence" and claimed that when she threatened to report them to the police Ramadan replied: "You don't know how powerful I am."

She also claimed that Ramadan had contacted her via the Messenger app in January, two months after his release from jail, saying that he wanted to make her an "offer" of a "professional nature", without giving details.

Tariq Ramadan is a married father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Zero to hero: Egypt schoolgirl becomes anti-corruption icon

Yahoo – AFP, Mona Salem, September 9, 2015

Mariam Malak talks to the media outside the Forensic Medical Authority

headquarters in Cairo on September 8, 2015 (AFP Photo/Khaled Desouki)

Cairo (AFP) - Schoolgirl Mariam Malak has become an unlikely symbol of the fight against corruption in Egypt after scoring the sum total of zero in her final exams.

The 19-year-old top student, a teacher's daughter in a small village in the poor southern province of Minya, dreams of becoming a doctor like her two brothers.

In previous years she aced her exams, and had expected a similar result in her final year.

Now nicknamed the "zero schoolgirl" in the local press, Malak had scored 97 percent in her previous two years.

But Malak was shocked to find that she had been failed in her finals, and says her answers had been replaced with someone else's -- clearly not in her handwriting.

"Since the results came out I've been living a nightmare," Malak told AFP after coming to Cairo from her home in southern Egypt.

"When I was shown the so-called copy of my answers, I couldn't believe my eyes," she said.

Malak said she had written page after page in the exams, and what she was shown consisted of a few lines.

In highly bureaucratic Egypt with its confusing legal system, challenging rampant corruption or wrongs suffered by the average citizen can be a formidable task.

Mariam Malak (centre), her lawyer Nabil Sadik (centre left) and brother Mina 

Malak (right), outside the Forensic Medical Authority headquarters in Cairo, on 

September 8, 2015 (AFP Photo/Khaled Desouki)

Were her papers swapped?

But Malak, who wears thick glasses and has her hair in a simple ponytail, is standing up for her rights and challenging the exam results.

Her lawyers believe Malak's exam papers could have been swapped with those submitted by the child of a person of influence.

When the final result first came out, a disbelieving Malak appealed to the education authority in the southern city of Assiut, which dismissed the complaint.

So she appealed to the prosecution service, which tasked a forensics team in Assiut to determine if the answers were in her handwriting.

Malak was again stunned when the experts ruled that the answers were indeed in her handwriting, and the prosecution closed the case.

So she again appealed against the decision.

"When she first heard of the forensic report she fainted," said her brother Mina, a doctor in his thirties who accompanied his sister to Cairo.

Malak was hospitalised briefly, and then appeared in tears on a television show, a catheter for a drip still inserted in her hand.

"I know I'm fighting corruption because the way my results were announced and forged means that corruption exists," she said.

'I believe Mariam Malak'

By the time Malak lodged her second appeal, her story had become a mainstay of television talk shows and in the newspapers, with people taking to Twitter with the hashtag "I believe Mariam Malak".

Mariam Malak (centre) a teacher's daughter in a small village in the poor southern

 province of Minya, dreams of becoming a doctor like her two brothers (AFP Photo/

Khaled Desouki)

Her case finally came to the attention of Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, who invited Malak to the capital for a meeting and issued a statement backing her.

Mahlab said he would "support the student in her appeal as if she were his daughter".

The Coptic Pope Tawadros II also asked to meet her, but Malak, a Christian, declined lest it appear a sectarian issue, saying her case was "that of an Egyptian citizen".

The prosecution service has now reopened the case, this time appointing a forensics team in the capital to study the handwriting in the answers attributed to her.

Malak's case has seized the public imagination as Egypt reels from a corruption scandal that led this week to the arrest of the agriculture minister immediately after he was told to quit.

There are also rumours in the press of a pending cabinet reshuffle.

At the education ministry, a senior official insisted that justice would be upheld in Malak's case.

"We are not with anyone or against anyone, and we respect justice," said Mohamed Saad, adding that the prosecution findings would be implemented.

"If you respect my rights in my country, all those who live in injustice will know they can claim theirs as well," Malak told AFP.

Obama expresses concern at Egypt violence

Google – AFP, 29 June 2013

Opponents of the Egyptian president burn the content of a Freedom and

Justice Party office in Alexandria on June 28, 2013 (AFP)

PRETORIA — US President Barack Obama on Saturday expressed concern about clashes in Egypt and called on President Mohamed Morsi to be more "constructive" along with the opposition to end the political crisis.

"We are all looking at the situation there with concern," Obama said in South Africa, adding that the US government had taken steps to ensure the safety of its embassy, consulates and diplomats in Egypt.

"We would urge all parties to make sure they are not engaging in violence and that police and military are showing appropriate restraint," he said.

"Everybody has to denounce violence. We would like to see the opposition and President Morsi engage in a more constructive conversation about to move their country forward."

Obama also said that Washington had consistently supported democracy in Egypt, but "it has been challenging given that there is not a tradition of democracy in Egypt".

Egypt was braced for nationwide protests against Morsi on Sunday to mark the anniversary of his turbulent first year in office after violence at rival demonstrations killed three people, including an American.

Morsi, 62, stands accused by his critics of failing the 2011 revolution that brought him to power and of ignoring nearly half of the electorate of around 50 million who did not vote for him last year.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators

gather outside the presidential palace in Cairo. (AFP)

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"TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE" - The Last 18 years – Dec 8, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Who is Kryon, God, Love, Great Central Sun, (Old) Soul, Benevolent Design, 1987 - Harmonic Convergence (11:11), 36 years galactic window (Precession), 26.000 years cycle, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, “TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE”  song – Composer, Human Consciousness, Conceptional Thinking, Old and New energy, Middle East, Protest against the new leader in Egypt because he is of an old energy, Syria is a Nightmare, Libya, People of Iran, Israel, Higher Self, You did it !, Change of Paradigm, 2012,  US/Russia, Global Unity, ... etc.)

Egypt holds Black Bloc member over 'Israeli sabotage plan'

The Daily Star, January 31, 2013

A member of the black bloc group throws a stone towards riot police during
 clashes in Simon Bolivar Square, which leads to Tahrir Square, in Cairo,
January 30, 2013. (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

                              

CAIRO: Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained a member of the Black Bloc militant group suspected of planning to carry out an Israeli-directed sabotage plan, the official MENA news agency said.

One person "belonging to the Black Bloc organisation was arrested inside a building overlooking Tahrir Square carrying Israeli plans to target petrol companies and vital installations, maps of these places and instructions on setting fire to some places," MENA reported.

Israel firmly rejected the notion of its involvement in any such plot.

Egypt's state security prosecution is currently questioning the suspect who is accused of "belonging to an illegal organisation and planning to sabotage private and public property."

According to MENA, the suspect admitted to belonging to the Black Bloc, a group of masked militants who have appeared among protesters in recent clashes with police.

The suspect was spotted by a security guard in a residential building off Tahrir Square and handed over to police, MENA said.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said he had no idea whether or not the Black Bloc member intended to carry out a plan of sabotage, but the claim of Israeli involvement was "utter nonsense."

Elsewhere, another suspected Black Bloc member was arrested after placing an order with a clothing factory in the city of Mahalla, north of Cairo, for black masks and outfits for the group, the prosecution said in the report.

The arrests come on the eve of planned protests against President Mohamed Morsi as deadly unrest has swept the country.

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(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

Egypt President Mursi explains army chief replacement

BBC News, 13 August 2012

Egypt changing 

• Mursi's swipe at military
• Mohamad Tantawi
• Mohammed Mursi
• Revolution 'failing Egyptian women'

Relations between President Mursi
 (centre) and Egypt's two top generals
have been tense

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has said his move to order the retirement of two of the country's top generals was for "the benefit of this nation".

He was speaking after replacing the powerful head of the armed forces, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, and the chief-of-staff, Gen Sami Annan.

Mr Mursi also said a constitutional declaration by the military aimed at curbing his powers had been cancelled.

The generals assumed presidential powers after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

'Holy mission'

"The decisions I took today were not meant ever to target certain persons, nor did I intend to embarrass institutions, nor was my aim to narrow freedoms," Mr Mursi said during a speech to mark the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"I did not mean to send a negative message about anyone, but my aim was the benefit of this nation and its people," he said.

The president also praised the armed forces, saying they would now focus "on the holy mission of protecting the nation".

It was announced earlier that a career army officer, Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, would replace Field Marshal Tantawi as both armed forces chief and defence minister.

Field Marshal Tantawi, 76, has not yet indicated whether he accepts the moves.

However Gen Mohammed al-Assar, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), told the Reuters news agency the decision had been "based on consultation with the field marshal, and the rest of the military council".

A presidential spokesman said Gen Annan and Field Marshal Tantawi had been appointed as presidential advisers and were given Egypt's highest state honour, the Grand Collar of the Nile.

Islamist raid

BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly says the dismissal of senior military officers will be seen by Egyptians as a decisive move in a struggle for real power between the country's newly elected politicians and the generals who have exercised power for many years.

As head of Scaf, Field Marshal Tantawi became Egypt's interim ruler after President Mubarak was ousted following last year's mass protests.

Under the interim constitutional declaration issued by Scaf before Mr Mursi was sworn in, the president could not rule on matters related to the military - including appointing its leaders.

The council also dissolved parliament, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).

Tensions between the presidency and Scaf were further exacerbated after Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula killed 16 border guards last week, in a raid that embarrassed the military.

The president sacked Egypt's intelligence chief and two senior generals following the attack.

Mr Mursi resigned from his leadership positions within the Brotherhood, including his role as chairman of the FJP, when he won the presidential election in June.

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"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."

Islamist Morsi Wins Egypt Presidential Vote

ABC News, by Maggie Michael, Associated Press, CAIRO June 24, 2012

Egypt's election commission has declared Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood the winner of Egypt's first free elections by a narrow margin over Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak.

The commission said Morsi won with 51.7 percent of the vote versus 48.3 for Shafiq.

A huge crowd of Morsi supporters in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted in cheers and dancing when the result was read out on live television.

FILE - In this Sunday, May 20, 2012 file photo, the Muslim

Brotherhood's  presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi

holds a rally in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo: AP)

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"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution

Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch 

Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

.

Egyptian blogger free after two months' detention

Deutsche Welle, 25 December 2011  

Abdel-Fattah met his son for the
first time

One of the first online activists to protest against Egypt's former leader Hosni Mubarak has been released from prison following two months' detention.

One of Egypt's pioneering online activists, who was a leading figure in the February protests that ended the rule of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, was released from detention on Sunday after being held for nearly two months.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah was detained at the end of October for refusing to take part in a military investigation into a protest rally he was a part of on October 9. The protests turned violent when security forces advanced on the crowd, and Abdel-Fattah and 27 others were accused - but never formally charged - of inciting the violence.

"We know from the beginning that I am not the one who killed people," Abdel-Fattah said outside of Cairo's police headquarters following his release, in remarks carried on news network Al-Jazeera. "We have not gone after the real criminals who killed people." 

Plenty of Egyptians supported
Abdel-Fattah during his detention

While greeting reporters, Abdel-Fattah also met his son Khaled, who was born while his father was in prison.

Military rulers

Abdel-Fattah's case is still open, but has been turned over to a civilian court, and he will not be allowed to leave the country as long as the investigation is ongoing.

His supporters maintain that Abdel-Fattah was targeted in an effort to silence a prominent critic and absolve the military for its role in the violence at protests that left 27 people dead. Some of the victims, according to activists, were killed when they were run over by military vehicles.

Activists like Abdel-Fattah are putting pressure on Egypt's new military rulers because they say little has changed since the generals took power following Mubarak's ouster.

Many accuse the military of violently crushing opposition and killing dozens of protesters.

Author: Matt Zuvela (AFP, Reuters, AP)

Editor: Ben Knight

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Shocking Video: 'Blue bra' girl brutally beaten by Egypt military

he blog-o-sphere is boiling at the cruel beating of a female protester by Egyptian military police, who continued battling protesters in Tahrir Square on Sunday. The clashes, into their third day now, have left 10 people dead and hundreds injured. ­The video uploaded on YouTube Sunday reveals the extreme cruelty of the country's law enforcers during the crackdown. The army soldiers in full riot gear have been savagely beating a seemingly unconscious female protester with big sticks, kicking her and stomping on her chest. Security forces lashed out ruthlessly on armless civilians and burned down tents that had been put up by activists outside the parliament building to camp in protest against the military rule. The internet community therefore questions the methods of the military regime who took over power after the ousting of the ex-President Hosni Mubarak in February.

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Young woman beaten and dragged by Egyptian soldiers wants anonymity

Egyptian soldiers beating and pulling the young woman's hair.

 Later she was dragged on ground, kicked and half stripped.

Photograph: Str/AP

How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution

Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch 

Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS