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Accused as a Terrorist |
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By Rex Wockner International News Report
The ongoing Cairo trial of 52 Egyptian men accused of
engaging in gay sex took an unexpected turn October 10
when prosecutors accused the lead defendant, Sherif
Farhat, of being a member of the Islamic terrorist
organization Jihad.
Jihad, which has links with Osama bin Laden, waged a terrorist campaign against tourists and the Egyptian government in the 1990s. The 52 men are charged with committing immoral acts and/or forming a group that exploits Islam to propagate extremist ideas. Police say they were arrested in and around a gay club on May 11. They have remained jailed at Tora Prison since then. According to the International gay Muslim organization Al-Fatiha, prosecutors on October 11 also inadvertently revealed that the prosecutions are a sham.
According to the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, many of the defendants were not even at or near the gay club that was raided. "Out of the 52 defendants, 19 were arrested elsewhere," IGLHRC said. "Some of the other detainees were picked up by police for minor violations: one reportedly was a street vendor arrested for selling watches without a license at a teahouse, another was cleaning his motorcycle on the street without his ID, and still another was initially arrested for having a fight with an off-duty police officer. After their arrests, they were placed in the ranks of suspected 'homosexuals' by police eager to stimulate a scandal." Verdicts are expected to be handed down on November 14. Since the trial is taking place in an emergency state security court, there is no possibility of appeal. The sentences could be as high as five years in prison. |
