Egypt verdict expected Sunday

Women shout against the Egyptian military council Bethlahem - Arabstoday An Egyptian military court is expected to deliver a verdict Sunday in the trial of a doctor accused of conducting forced "virginity tests" on female protesters. A year on from the Cairo protest in which female demonstrators were arrested and later subject to the invasive tests, Amnesty International says the verdict will show if Egypt's army courts are prepared to offer redress for female victims of military violence. The doctor is facing charges of "public indecency" and "disobeying military orders" for coercing women to undergo the tests after they were arrested at a protest on March 9, 2011. An initial charge of rape was dropped from the indictment. "The ‘virginity tests’ trial is a rare opportunity for Egypt’s military to signal that torture by the army does not go unpunished and that perpetrators of human rights violations among its ranks will be held to account," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy regional director at Amnesty International. Sahraoui said women have faced repeatedly faced beatings and torture by Egyptian soldiers and security forces at demonstrations in the last year. In December, a video of military police dragging, beating and stamping on two women at a protest in Cairo provoked worldwide outrage.