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News of Anti-Gay Retrial in Egypt |
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Compiled by GayToday Courtesy of IGLHRC
 San Francisco-- The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC) responded with shock to press reports that Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak has ordered the retrial of 50 of the "Cairo 52" defendants,
while confirming the hard labor sentence of the other two.
An Emergency State Security Court for Misdemeanors in Cairo sentenced 23 men accused of homosexual acts to one to five years at hard labor on November 14, 2001. At the same time the Court acquitted 29 additional defendants. Most of these men, including all 29 acquitted, must apparently now undergo a new trial. "If true, this is Egypt's last-ditch effort to clean up its image before the international community," stated Scott Long, IGLHRC's Program Director. "But dragging the convicted men into the humiliation of a new trial -- while placing 29 acquitted men under the renewed threat of imprisonment -- can only sully that image further." Officials told the Associated Press that President Mubarak has ordered 50 of the men, including the 29 acquitted, retried before an ordinary court rather than an Emergency State Security Court, because they were charged only with "habitual practice of debauchery." The President appears to admit that this charge does not, under Egyptian law, justify a trial before a Security Court--a procedure designed for "terrorists" and threats to the State. However, the President confirmed the hard labor sentences of two of the 23 convicted men, who were found guilty of "contempt for religion" under Article 98f of the Penal Code. The President thus continued to affirm the validity of the Emergency State Security Courts, which have been widely condemned by human rights activists because they permit no ordinary appeal. He also endorsed the legal curtailment of freedom of religion in Egypt. "All 23 convicted men should be pardoned and released immediately," added Mr. Long. "They already endured one sham trial. To inflict another only redoubles the abuse." The 52 were arrested on or around the night of May 10/11, 2001. That night, police raided the Queen Boat discotheque in Cairo; other police pickups followed in the next days. The 52 were tortured, and jailed until their trial.
In a similar case, the Egyptian political dissident Saad Eddin Ibrahim, jailed for exercising his freedom of expression, was recently released and offered a new trial. Many activists fear the respite will end in his renewed imprisonment. "These cosmetic gestures mean nothing," said Mr. Long. "Egypt isn't offering freedom, merely loosening the leash." Egypt's persecution of suspected homosexuals has been condemned by international human rights organizations, members of the US Congress, and mechanisms of the United Nations. Additional Information: http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/#Egypt |
