CAIRO: An Egyptian ministry of sports representative has been fined for reportedly harassing and assaulting a 21-year-old woman during the Paralympic Games in London. The UK's Daily Mail reported that Ibrahim Ahmed Khalil had been detained two days in the British capital while as he attempted to claim diplomatic immunity. Women in Egypt and the UK have condemned the British government for allowing Khalil off the hook for criminal activity. “Is the British government telling Egyptians that sexual harassment and assault will only receive a slap on the wrist? I think so,” said Egyptian-British woman and lawyer Farah Mahmoud. She told Bikyamasr.com that her Egyptian female friends are “extremely angry” over the fine. “We demand that the British government treat everyone who violates a woman in this manner to uphold the same penalties and laws that they would if it had been a UK citizen. It is unacceptable, especially considering the gross sexual violence that continues in Egypt,” she added. Police said he had been arrested only hours before the Paralympics closing ceremony. “The Egyptian embassy tried to claim diplomatic immunity, but the attempt failed and Khalil wept yesterday as he was fined by magistrates,” said the Daily Mail report. “He told police he poked the girl's breast to tell her where she should put the badge (of Egypt's flag). He said he didn't really understand what he had done wrong, but wanted to apologise because she was upset with him,” said Regina Naughton, prosecuting at City of London Magistrates' Court, in comments published by Egypt's state-run al-Ahram newspaper. The ministry refused to comment when Bikyamasr.com asked for a statement. “The court accepted his apology ‘on the basis that it is a one-off error of judgment' and ordered him to pay a £160 fine, £100 costs, £100 compensation to the woman, and a £15 victim surcharge. Embassy officials will pay on his behalf,” Magistrate Sarah Graham also said. Sexual harassment and assault is a major social pandemic in Egypt, where the head of the National Council of Women (NCW) Mervat Tallawy said earlier this month that Egyptian women face being harassed on average “7 times every 200 meters.” A number of activist groups have attempted to curtail harassment and sexual violence in the country, but have largely been unable to make in roads.
