The military court on Tuesday adjourned the case of “virginity tests” conducted by Dr. Ahmed Adil al-Mogy to 14 January in order to complete the investigation and interrogation the witnesses. Military prosecutors previously changed the charges against Mogy from “serious sexual assault” to "public indecency” and “not following orders." The Cairo Administrative Court ordered the Egyptian army to stop forced virginity tests on female detainees. The court ruled in favor of Samira Ibrahim, who sued the army over the practice, slammed by rights groups as torture and sexual violence. The incident goes back to the afternoon of 9 March when the army violently dispersed a sit-in in Tahrir Square, beating protestors and arresting scores of them. Ibrahim was among other 6 women who were taken to a military prison in Heikstep where they were subjected to “virginity tests.” Weeks later, an army general, speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity, defended the practice. "We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place," he said. His statements sparked outrage, prompting the army to promise that no more virginity tests would be carried out in the future. However, amid public uproar against Egypt's military rulers, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) made some concessions by announcing that members of the army involved in violations against protestors would be held accountable. On December, three soldiers were put on trial for involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 14 Coptic protestors killed in the Maspero clashes in Cairo. SCAF also ordered the investigation into instances where“virginity tests” were carried out. However, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a local rights watchdog, has cast doubt on the military's will to launch an impartial investigation. EIPR said that changing the charges against the doctor who conducted the “serious sexual assault” to “public indecency” means that he may receive a fine of only 300 pounds or get sentenced to prison for less than one year. The group also said that the case doesn't investigate the torture of 174 protesters, including 17 women (seven of whom were subjected “virginity tests”).
