Egypt's 'zero schoolgirl' demands independent probe

The lawyer for an Egyptian student who became an anti-corruption symbol after claiming she was failed when her exam results were replaced called Thursday for an enquiry after prosecution experts denied her allegations.

Mariam Malak, 19, dreams of becoming a doctor like her two brothers.

Now nicknamed the "zero schoolgirl" in the local press, Malak scored 97 percent in her previous two years and expected a similar result in her final year.

So she was shocked to find that she had failed, saying her answers had been replaced with someone else's -- clearly not in her handwriting.

But the prosecution has said the handwriting was indeed hers.

Malak, who has met the prime minister amid a highly publicised campaign to overturn the result, told a press conference Thursday the prosecution's investigation had not delivered her "rights."

Her lawyers have said her exam answers had been switched, possibly with those of the child of an influential person.

Lawyer Ihab Ramzi insisted Thursday that Malak was a victim of corruption and demanded that the prosecution appoint a panel of "independent experts" to study the handwriting in the exam answers.

Malak's case had seized the public imagination as Egypt reels from a corruption scandal that led to the arrest of the agriculture minister.
Source: AFP