Mawada Fathi Rashad Muhammad El Adham “Mawaddah El Adham”

Mawada Fathi Rashad Muhammad El Adham

Name: Mawada Fathi Rashad Muhammad El Adham
Gender: Female
Age at time of arrest: 20
Occupation: Content creator and owner of a hair salon
Governorate of residence: Giza
Arrest governorate: Cairo
Detention date: 14/5/2020
Cases: No. 64 of 2020, Administrative No. 1087 of 2020 Economic CrimesNo. 4917 of 2020, El Sahel Felonies
Sentences: Acquittal and payment of a 1.000 L.E. fine Two years imprisonment and payment of a 300.000 L.E fine. Later, the court reduced imprisonment to two years and upheld the payment of fine/ Six years imprisonment and payment of a 200.000 L.E. fine.

1. Personal information
a. Birth: Ms. Mawada was born in 2000. She was arrested at the age of 20.

b. Upbringing: She was born in Marsa Matrouh Governorate and grew up in Alexandria. Her fame began when she took part in the “Miss Egypt” pageant at the age of 17, where she won the title of “Miss Teen”.
During her rise to fame she studied at the Faculty of Mass Communication. She left her family’s home in Alexandria at the age of 19 and moved to Cairo, where she settled and was financially independent for years until her arrest.

c. Occupation: She worked as a content creator and also owned a hair salon.

d. Political activity/affiliation: She was one of the most prominent Egyptian figures on the social media sharing apps TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, with 3 million, 1.5 million and 255,000 followers respectively. She regularly shared dance videos with the followers of her personal accounts and interacted with their comments in live streams.

e. In the spotlight:
– She came into the spotlight as one of the most famous young women on TikTok, and she was on the list of the most followed Egyptian figures on the app. She stirred controversy when she appeared in a live stream after a group of teenage boys who had found out where she lived in Madinaty went to her home and insulted her. After the incident she appeared in a video crying to her audience, saying that she offers entertainment content they follow and does not object to them visiting her or taking photos with her, but she refuses to be insulted. She also said she does not present meaningful content and does not want children or teenagers to follow her example; she does it only for entertainment and to make money. At the same time, a fabricated video of her was leaked and circulated on social media, stirring debate about whether she was really in it.

– Several complaints were filed against her during the coronavirus outbreak for breaking the curfew imposed by the government.

2. Previous arrests:
First: the curfew case
– March 2020, charge: During the spread of the new coronavirus, Ms. Mawada was arrested for breaking the curfew, stirring public opinion and inciting citizens not to comply with the decision. Report No. 64 Administrative of 2020 was filed, and she was released on bail of EGP 20,000.

– December 2020, verdict: The New Cairo Misdemeanor Court acquitted her and fined her only EGP 1,000 for breaking the curfew.

Second: the “TikTok girls” case
– 14 May 2020, arrest: Ms. Mawada was arrested from her car inside a residential compound in 6th of October, Giza Governorate, with a personal computer and a mobile phone without a SIM card. She faced several charges, most notably violating Egyptian family principles and values, and creating, managing and using websites and private accounts on social media apps on the internet in order to commit and facilitate that crime. The Public Prosecution ordered her and others detained in Case No. 1087 of 2020 Economic Crimes Inquiry, registered as No. 1047 of 2020 Financial Misdemeanors, known in the media as the “TikTok girls” case.

– 11 June 2020, referral: The Public Prosecution referred Ms. Mawada to the Economic Court in the same case.

– 27 July 2020, verdict: She was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of EGP 300,000.

– 12 January 2021, appeal: The Third Misdemeanor Appeals Circuit of the Cairo Economic Court cancelled the prison sentence and kept only the EGP 300,000 fine, citing the defendant’s young age and the need to protect her future. She was not released because she had already been added to a third case, the “human trafficking” case.

3. Timeline from the start of the third case (human trafficking) to the verdict:
Third: the human trafficking case
a. Background of the arrest:
– April 2020, charge: Ms. Mawada was added to the case known in the media as the “human trafficking” case.

b. Background of the case:
Case No. 4917 of 2020 El-Sahel Felonies, registered as No. 2106 of 2020 North Cairo Plenary, known in the media as the “human trafficking” case.

The case includes 5 defendants charged with human trafficking, exploiting children and inciting them to delinquency, the best known being Ms. Haneen Hossam and Ms. Mawada El-Adham. It is one of the best-known cases brought against content creators, with harsh sentences ranging from 10 to 6 years of aggravated imprisonment.

c. Charges: The prosecution brought several charges against her, most notably:
– Human trafficking.
– Exploiting girls in activities that contradict the principles and values of Egyptian society for financial gain.
– Membership in a WhatsApp group to receive assignments to exploit girls.
– Encouraging teenage girls to post videos similar to hers.

d. Trial and sentences:
– 20 June 2021, Criminal Court verdict: She was sentenced in person to 6 years in prison and a fine of EGP 200,000.

– 10 November 2022, cassation hearing scheduled: The Court of Cassation set 11 February 2023 for the first hearing of Ms. Mawada El-Adham’s appeal against her 6-year prison sentence and EGP 200,000 fine in the “human trafficking” case.

– 11 February 2023, sentence upheld: The Egyptian Court of Cassation rejected Ms. Mawada’s appeal and upheld the sentence against her.

– May 2026, sentence completed and awaiting release: After the Court of Cassation upheld her sentence in February 2023, she continued serving it. Counting her pretrial detention and the time served, Ms. Mawada will have completed her sentence by May 2026, and she is awaiting completion of the release procedures.

4. Detention conditions
a. Places of detention: Ms. Mawada served part of her sentence in Al-Qanater Women’s Prison until she was moved to another prison, according to the latest available information that all Al-Qanater prisoners were moved and distributed among other prisons.

b. Violations:
– Being subjected to defamation campaigns and social stigma in full view of the authorities, without any legal action being taken.
– The arrest and summons report was invalid because it did not include Ms. Mawada’s details, in violation of Article 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
– Her personal phone was searched and her chats opened by the arresting officer without any clear legal justification, in violation of Article 21 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
– The prosecution appealed the release decision issued by the deliberation chamber, in violation of Article 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, on the pretext that new technical evidence (a video) had emerged, even though the prosecution had already confronted her with it.

c. Living conditions in prison:
She is now held in one of the women’s prisons, serving her sentence after being moved from Al-Qanater Women’s Prison, and awaiting release in May 2026.