ICC Note: Last month charges were dropped against three Muslim men who publicly stripped an elderly Egyptian Christian woman. At the time, Mrs. Thabet felt betrayed for the second time by her country and law. Now, after appeals from her legal team and reexamination of testimonies, the case has been reopened.

02/17/2017 Egypt (WWM): The case against three men accused of publicly stripping naked a 70-year-old woman has been reopened.

A month ago today (17 January), charges were dropped against the three men over a reported lack of evidence, despite a public apology from the President and the woman, Soad Thabet, identifying the three men.

After the charges were dropped, Mrs Thabet told The Telegraph she felt “let down for a second time”.

However, the case against the three men has now been reopened, following an appeal by Mrs Thabet’s legal team, who claimed that witnesses had gone back on their original testimonies after being threatened.

Writer and journalist Soliman Shafiq told the Coptic newspaper Watani that the case “perfectly mirrored the bitter struggle between the tribal fundamentalist forces in rural Egypt and the liberal civic forces” and called the decision to reopen the case a “victory” for civic forces.

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