Egypt’s Economic Court sentenced, on Saturday, the founder of ChaoMing Telegram channel to three years imprisonment for leaking Egypt’s high school (Thanaweya Amma) exams via the application.
The defendant will also pay a fine of EGP 200,000 in addition to their imprisonment. According to informed sources quoted in local media, the defendant works for a famous chain of restaurants.
On 26 July, the court held the defendant’s first trial session, which was postponed to bring the accused out of detention to attend the session, at the defence’s request. Following a defence plea, the Public Prosecution demanded the maximum punishment for the defendant.
Sources said that the accused is one of Egypt’s most dangerous leakers of the Thanaweyya Amma exams, and for this purpose he established groups on the Telegram application. Egypt’s security services were, however, able to identify and arrest him.
Starting in June 2016, all of Egypt’s Thanaweyya Amma exams have been leaked on social media, either prior to or during the exam time, putting the country’s Ministry of Education under immense pressure to resolve this.
Despite repeated attempts and efforts to establish rules over recent years, the Ministry of Education has failed to prevent the leaks from happening. It has only been in the past year, however, that several people have been arrested for their administration of social media pages devoted to leaking the exams.
Students are not allowed to possess a mobile or any other electronic device during the exams, even if they are switched off. Anyone who attempts to print, publish, broadcast, or circulate exams can face a minimum of 12 months imprisonment and a fine of between EGP 10,000 and EGP 50,000. They may also face being deprived of taking the exams.
