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This news item just reported in the Lebanese Daily Star. To visit The Daily Star Website click on www.dailystar.com.lb Two lesbians arrested for ‘unnatural’ sex Two lesbians were arrested Thursday for engaging in “unnatural” sexual practices, under orders from Mount Lebanon’s Public Prosecution Office. According to judicial sources, the women, who were caught in flagrante delicto, confessed to having relations for several years and said they wished to be united in matrimony. The sources said the two also sought to have a test-tube baby together, and affirmed to Mount Lebanon assistant public prosecutor Shawki Hajjar that they would join each other once released from jail. Hajjar ordered that each woman be held in custody in a separate cell on charges of having unnatural sexual relations. Article 534 of the penal code identifies having sexual relations “contradicting the laws of nature” as a crime carrying a penalty of up to one year in prison. The sources said the women’s relationship was exposed after police stormed one of their homes to recover money and jewelry allegedly stolen from the mother of one of the women. The mother had filed a complaint against her daughter, accusing her of stealing the valuables. Both women were also charged with theft, which under Article 636 carries a penalty of between two months and three years in prison. Posted Late 22 August. Late on Sunday night Egyptian police arrested a leading young Egyptian gay activist. He was lured to a meeting by an email puporting to be from an Italian man. When he arrived he found the police waiting. Soon afterwards, he was forced to sign a confession. He is due to stand trial on 6 September. Few other details are known at this stage. We will keep you posted. Up until now the police have concentrated on arresting men for allegedly having or attempting to solicit gay sex. Now, for the first time, a man has been targeted not because of his alleged sexual activities or "attempted activities", but because of his political commitment to the idea of equality, regardless of sexual orientation. A right taken for granted in the entire civilized world. July 2002: Queen Boat Retrial Postponed Until September. This story from the BBC website - to link to BBC news click on www.bbc.co.uk and then click on News and then Middle East. By Nick Thorpe BBC correspondent in Cairo The trial of 50 men in Cairo accused of depraved behaviour for their alleged homosexual leanings has been adjourned by the judge to give the defence more time to prepare its case. Twenty-one of the men were originally convicted of the offence last November. But the state security court verdict was overturned by President Hosni Mubarak, who ordered that the case be heard again in an ordinary criminal court. The trial of the men continues in both senses of the word. Homosexuality crackdown Judge Hassan al-Sayess read out the names of the accused at a court in central Cairo. Only their lawyers were present - the men avoid appearing in public whenever possible because of verbal attacks against them in the Egyptian media. One defence lawyer then complained about the retrying of those men who had already been acquitted, and the judge then adjourned the case until September. Homosexuality was until recently quietly tolerated in Egypt, but the authorities began a major crackdown in May last year with a night raid on a disco where some of the men were arrested. Homosexuality itself is not a crime - the men are charged with offending public morals. Two other men, also convicted last November, are already serving three and five year prison terms, and their cases are not subject to a re-trial. Different explanations have been put forward to explain the crackdown. One is the growing public visibility of Egypt's gay community because of the internet. Another is that this is a move to please conservative Muslim clerics, to distract them from the fact that up to 15,000 Islamic activists remain in prison, in many cases without formal charges having been brought against them. ALL IN THE NAME OF REVENGE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS INITIATED QUEEN BOAT RAID TO SILENCE CRITICISM OF MUBARAK'S SON AFTER RELATIVE OF A FAMOUS EGYPTIAN POLITICIAN GIVES AN INTERVIEW MAKING ALLEGEDLY CUTTING REMAKRS Photo: Clumsily doctored photo purporting to show Farahat as an Israeli spy Posted 23 July 2002 A few weeks before the now infamous Queen Boat raid in May last year, the wife of a former top Egyptian statesman [ we know her identity !] gave a television interview to an Egyptian television channel which some alleged, almost certainly incorrectly, contained remarks which, though not overtly stating that Gamal Mubarak was gay, implied nevertheless that he was. In retrospect, however, it seems almost certain that these alleged remarks were innocently made and that any alleged implications were not intended. Neither is there any evidence whatsoever to suggest that Gamal Mubarak might be gay. However, there is mounting evidence, some of which we are unable to disclose, that some supporters of Mubarak must have jumped to conclusions and that they determined to inflict revenge. We do not know whether the president himself was aware of this. Up until now it has been assumed, in the words of the Cairo Times, that the so called "ring leader" Farahat, still only a few months into his five year sentence, had been "plucked from obscurity and used as a tool for the shadowy purposes of faceless bureaucrats." However, now it seems that he was himself a family relative of the interviewee who had allegedly so damaged Gamal Mubarak's reputation. As such he seems to have been the hapless victim of a revenge plot. But we still don't know who initiated it or which members in the Government, if any, were aware of it. It always seemed strange that Farahat - the so called ringleader of the "devilworshippers", to borrow from the Egyptian media's own vocabulary, cut such a respectable figure. He had been to Mecca three times and his photography had won awards across Cairo. Aged thirty two at the time of his arrest, he was being trained as a computer engineer by IBM. He had also learned to speak English, German and French fluently. It hardly sounds like someone with much time to spare for devilworship. But far more damning is the fact that the allegations about Farahat in the Egyptian press were being printed on the evening of Saturday 11 May, even before the prosecutor had started to interrogate Farahat himself. He had been thrown in a police cell less than 48 hours earlier. So, why and more pertinently how did some Egyptian newspapers print as fact allegations about Farahat even before he had been questioned ? An equally shameful, if more clumsy, element in the campaign to convict Farahat was the fabrication of so called photographic evidence to label him as an Israeli spy. Needless to say, all such charges were later dropped. For instance on 18 May the newspaper Al Mussawar carried a so-called photograph purporting to show Farahat wearing an Egyptian army helmet painted with the star of David and sitting happily at a desk next to an Israeli flag [see photo]. It was so clearly doctored as to be laughable and in the end such clumsy work may have hindered rather than helped the prosecution. However, it did not prevent Farahat's eventual conviction. So, why did the newspapers take such risks in order to label this relatively unknown individual as a spy ? It now seems increasinly likely that Farahat had been set up and that the Queen Boat Raid, far from being a routine vice raid, had been planned at the highest levels, not particularly to intimidate Cairo's gay community - that could have been left to Egypt's "cyber" and "vice" police, but to take it's revenge on a hapless relative of someone who had been deemed to be critical of Gamal Mubarak. Farahat was that relative. The alleged remarks about Gamal had obviously hurt. The President had always been highly sensitive about the issue of any possible succession and it was always an open secret that he wanted his son to take over whenever he died, just as Bashshar al-Asad took over from his father Hafiz al-Asad in Syria. Unfortunately Farahat became the unlikely victim of an attempt to silence any criticism, whether intended or not, of Gamal. And fifty one other innocent customers also seem to have been caught up in the drag net of revenge. We do have other evidence but cannot publish it at this stage. NEW JUDGE APPOINTED TO HEAD CIVIL COURT HEARING OF THE FORMER QUEEN BOAT DETAINEES Posted 19 July 2002 This week brought sad news for Judge Abdel "bring in the queers !" Karim. He is now unable to act as judge in a new trial. This will decide on the validity of his own earlier rulings in the infamous "Queen Boat" trial. The trial brought world condemnation in November last year when twenty three allegedly "gay" men were sentenced to hard labour prison sentences of between one and five years. The new judge will be Hassan El Sais and the trial is set to start on 27 July. Little is known about Hassan and it is yet to be seen whether he holds a dogmatic or liberal stance on the issue of the right - taken for granted in much of the world - to decide the gender of one's sexual partner without fear of state punishment. GERMAN PROTESTERS SLAM EGYPT'S ANTI-GAY REGIME. HUNDREDS SIGN PETITION AGAINST EGYPTIAN GAY WITCH-HUNT AT EUROPRIDE Posted 17 July 2002 Info from activist. Over five hundred people attending Europride in Cologne signed a petition appealing for an immediate end to the gay witch-hunt in Egypt. The petition, which had been drawn up by a local branch of Amnesty International, asked for an immediate halt to the new trial against the alleged fifty gay men arrested during the infamous Queen Boat clampdown in May last year and demanded their immediate release. It also reminded people of the many others still in prison who the Egyptian authorities have said will serve out their sentences in full. Alteast one of the pride participators could be seen sporting a pharaonic costume during the Europride Parade on 6th July. The event attracted a huge audience of one million people to the streets of Cologne, many of whom demonstrated their sympathy and support for the victims of Egypt's gay clampdown. RETRIAL STARTS OR RATHER IT DOESN'T ! THE "BRING IN THE QUEERS" JUDGE CONFESSES IT WOULD BE SADLY ILLEGAL IF HE WERE TO RULE ON HIS OWN EARLIER VERDICTS. [ Cairo 2 July 2002: Posted 3 July 2002 Sources: Various activists, contacts, Egyptian press and latest IGLHRC report. ] The retrial of fifty of the Queen Boat defendants opened today or did it ? In an onimous development, the thirty two defense lawyers found that they faced the same judge who had presided at the original, and much ridiculed, state security court trial. Judge Abdel "Bring in the Queers" Karim. Karim knew he could not legally consider the case. Why he was presiding is a pertinent question. No doubt he will claim that it was only the result of total incompetence. Just an amazing coincidence ! If this is the case then one has to ask - did he not read his own court papers or for that matter the international media which had already ridiculed the decision ? And if he did know he had been appointed to preside, as surely he must have, why did he not make alternative arrangements earlier ? Not suprisingly Karim felt obliged to withdraw in embarassment and decided to refer the case to another judge in the same circuit. The name of the new judge and the date of next session will be announced on July 16. Had he continued with the trial, Abdel Karim would have made further mockery of "Egyptian justice". During the last trial he told the Associated Television Press that the Queen Boat partygoers "threatened national security !" Even as it stands, the shambles and indecisiveness clearly represents either complete incompetence or a deliberate attempt to delay any inevitable decision or, and this seems more likely, a belated realisation that the regime cannot easily get away with blatant show trials when it is under the spotlight of international attention. Happily, and for the first time, Abdel Karim was unable to utter his now infamous line - "Bring in the Khawalaat [queers]" as all fifty of the defendants had understandably decided, as is their right, not to turn up to this initial hearing. However, thirty two lawyers representing the men were present. ################### Press Release from International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission "Cairo 52" Trial Begins in Egypt... Again IGLHRC Protests Double Jeopardy For Immediate Release: July 2, 2002 SAN FRANCISCO - The second trial of 50 of the "Cairo 52" men opened in Cairo today. The 50 defendants include both those who were acquitted as well as those who were convicted in an earlier trial that ended November 14, 2001. "A second trial will double the injustices of the first one," stated Scott Long, Program Director at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "Bringing people to trial because of their suspected homosexuality was wrong the first time around, and remains wrong today." "Retrying people who have already been acquitted violates basic fairness, and basic protections in international law," concluded Mr. Long. The hearing started at 10:30 am at the Qasr-al-Nil Misdemeanors Court in Cairo, and lasted only 15 minutes. The trial was presided by Judge Abdel Karim, who was criticized by attorneys for showing bias in the first trial, which he had presided as well. Judge Abdel Karim withdrew voluntarily from the case. The case will be referred to another judge within the same circuit court. The name of the new judge and the date of the next session will be announced on 16 July. There was no warrant for rearresting the defendants; they remain free for now. The "Cairo 52" were first arrested on or around the night of May 10/11, 2001. That night, police raided the Queen Boat discotheque in Cairo, believed to be a gay men's gathering place; other police pickups followed in the next days. The 52 were tortured in detention, and jailed continuously until their trial. (For more information on procedural irregularities and abuses surrounding the trial, see IGLHRC's Fact Sheet, "Egyptian Justice on Trial: The Case of the Cairo 52," at http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2001Oct.html All 52 pleaded innocent. The verdicts were handed down on November 14, 2001, at a hearing attended by a representative of IGLHRC, among others. Twenty-one defendants were convicted of the "habitual practice of debauchery" under Article 9(c) of Law 10/1961 (on the Combat of Prostitution). One defendant was convicted of "contempt for religion" under Article 98f of the Penal Code. Another defendant, accused of being the "ringleader," was convicted of both charges and received the heaviest sentence, five years of hard labor. In late May, the State Security Office for the Ratification of Verdicts--an arm of the Egyptian presidency which is the only possible review for decisions of Emergency State Security Courts--cancelled the court decisions in the 50 cases involving the "habitual practice of debauchery." The grounds were that this crime did not merit trial before the repressive special courts. The convictions of the two defendants for "contempt of religion" were upheld. All but those two now face a second trial. For additional background information and an updated action alert, see http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2002Jun_2.html ######################## The news item below picked up from Al Fatiha at 8.40pm London time 1st July. Posted by Al Fatiha Monday July 1st 2002 at 4:20 pm. Original source International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Subject: Action Alert: Egypt - One Conviction Overturned: 50 Still Face Retrial From the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) Emergency Response Network (ERN) EGYPT: ONE CONVICTION OVERTURNED IN CAIRO: 50 STILL FACE PRISON IN RETRIAL ! @@@@@@@@@@@@ SUMMARY @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ On June 26, 2002, A.M.S., a 19 year-old Egyptian student, saw his conviction for homosexual conduct overturned by a Cairo appeals court. Reportedly, A.M.S.--who had been in detention for over five weeks--fainted, overcome with emotion, when the verdict was announced. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) welcomes the decision, which was handed down by the Qasr-al-Nil Court of Appeals. At the same time--in a separate, longstanding case--50 of the defendants in the 2001 "Cairo 52" case still face a retrial to begin July 2. International pressure on Egypt's government must go on. A.M.S. was arrested by the Vice Squad on May 19 as he stood on a Cairo street. He had allegedly arranged a face-to-face encounter with a man he had met on the Internet--a man who was either a police officer or an informer. A.M.S. was charged with homosexual conduct, tortured, and subjected to abusive medical tests. On June 8, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the "habitual practice of debauchery" (a term for homosexual conduct in Egyptian law), as well as "enticing passers-by to commit indecency"--both deriving from the "crime" of a cyberspace conversation. (For more information on this case, see IGLHRC's June 18 Alert, "New Conviction in Cairo," at http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2002Jun_1.html Those worldwide who protested this injustice can take heart that their messages were heard. Yet Egypt is pressing forward with retrying the "Cairo 52" defendants--and even those earlier acquitted will face the indignity of a new trial. (For information on the retrial, see IGLHRC's June 23 Alert, "Retrial Announced in Cairo 52 Case," at http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2002Jun_2.html Letters are still needed. Remind Egypt's government that the international community is still watching. Remind Egypt's allies that their support enables broken promises, bodies, and minds. A list of who to write to can be found either at the www.iglhrc.org website or in the May/June news section of this site. For the latest news on the upcoming retrial please click here. |
