To connect to the Middle East Times please click on metimes.com President Hosni Mubarak has rescinded jail terms for 21 Egyptian men convicted of gay sex and ordered prosecutors to review their cases and those of 29 others who were acquitted, court sources said Thursday. However, Mubarak ratified jail terms of five years and three years for two of the 23 men who were convicted on November 14 after a mass trial by the high state security court, which sparked international criticism. Under emergency laws in force since 1981, Mubarak is the only official in the country who can ratify or rescind verdicts given by the high state security court. Mubarak decided to "send the files of the 50 young people back to the prosecutor's office so that it decides on the necessary procedures," according to Farid al-Dib, a key lawyer for the defense. The Egyptian president based his decision "on the fact that the accusations brought against them are not part of the charges which the high state security court can rule on," Dib told AFP on Thursday. The court, which was set up under the emergency laws, is a special tribunal which rules on cases deemend to be of a threat to national security or national sovereignty. Sherif Farahat, the lead defendant in the case whose verdict was upheld, was sentenced to five years in prison for "scorning religion" and "sexual practices contrary to Islam." Mahmud Ahmed Allam, whose sentence was also upheld, was jailed for three years for scorning religion. The remaining 50 defendants, most of them in their early 20s, had been charged with "practicing debauchery with men." Twenty of them were sentenced to two years in prison while one was jailed for a year. The practice of homosexuality is not explicitly prohibited under Egyptian law, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic, law. However, numerous statutes condemn conduct deemed to be an effrontery to public morality. "The prosecutor can now decide to shelve the case or refer it to a criminal court, rather than keep it before the high state security court," Al-Dib said. Since it opened on July 18 last year, the trial stirred the wrath of gay rights and human rights organizations, particularly in Switzerland, France and the United States. The London-based human rights group Amnesty International twice demanded the release of the defendants, an investigation into allegations of torture during their detention, and respect for individuals' sexual orientation. |