Several months ago, in July 2020, hundreds of girls took social media by storm to accuse Ahmed Bassam Zaki of harassment, blackmail and sexual assault. All of their stories aligned, almost every detail was similar, from how he lured them in and set them up to assault them, to how he threatened to tell their families should they attempt to refuse. After more than 100 girls and women came forward with their stories, most of whom remained anonymous, Zaki was taken in by police for investigation.
During the first interrogation, Zaki denied all of the accusations with which he was charged, denying any connection with any of the victims and relying on the fact that he was arrested based on social media accusations and reports that aren’t considered legal evidence.
He was expected to be locked up for only four days, after which he would be released with no charge if there were no official accusations filed against him. However, after four women and a young girl came forward officially against Zaki, the offender finally confessed to harassing six girls he knew through social media and then blackmailing them afterward, which caused the public prosecution to extend his detention to 15 days.
Zaki pleaded guilty, stating that he got in contact with the girls from 2016 until earlier this year. As the girls stated, incidents included him getting sympathy from them and talking about private matters, then later pressuring them into meeting him in a space that would allow him to physically assault the victims. Following the assault, he would blackmail them by sending threatening sexual messages, stating that he would send explicit pictures of them and private conversations to their families and the public if they didn’t subject to his orders or if they tried to end the relationship.
Investigations have been taking place and carried out ever since, and today every girl who was threatened and assaulted by Zaki has finally seen some justice, as Ahmed Bassam Zaki was officialy sentenced to eight years in prison for sexual assault.