Egyptian TikTok star jailed for three years over human trafficking 

Cairo: An Egyptian court has sentenced a female TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam to three years in prison and a fine of 200,000 pounds ($10,759) after a retrial convicted her of ‘human trafficking’. 

According to details, the verdicts are the culmination of a trial that originally started two years ago. 

Haneen Hossam, who is in her early 20s, was accused of exploiting girls for money through video-sharing platforms.

In July, Cairo's Economic Court convicted Hossam and another TikTok star, Mawada al-Adham, of the charge of "violating family values and principles". 

The TikToker was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail and Adham, who was present, was given a six-year sentence on the same charges, but a retrial was held after her lawyer lodged an appeal. 

In the meantime, several human rights activists say she has been prosecuted as part of a crackdown on female social media influencers.

They argue that the charges Hossam and at least 11 other women with millions of followers have faced since 2020 violate the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, non-discrimination and bodily autonomy.

Hossam—a Cairo University student—gained more than 900,000 followers on TikTok by posting videos showing her lip-syncing to songs and dancing. She was first arrested in April 2020 after inviting her women followers to join another video-sharing platform, where she said they could make money by broadcasting live videos. 

In the days before her arrest, Hossam said the media had taken her content and shared it out of context when they claimed that what she was doing was inappropriate.

The court also sentenced them to two years in prison and fined them 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($16,100; £12,400).

An appeals court acquitted Hossam and overturned Adham's prison sentence in January 2021, and they were released the following month. 

However, prosecutors then introduced the more serious charge of human trafficking.

The women were accused of "using girls in acts contrary to the principles and values of Egyptian society with the aim of gaining material benefits". 

Following this, Hossam posted a tearful video before she was detained stating that she "didn't do anything immoral to deserve all this" and that no-one had been harmed. 

However, she was granted a retrial, but the same court found her guilty on Monday.