Egyptian Police Accused of Fabricating Gay Charges
Advocate,
October 5, 2001
Defense attorneys in the trial of 52 Egyptian men accused of practicing gay
sex say that police made the whole thing up, Agence France-Presse reports.
"The police fabricated this business to distract from more important
issues," said Farid al-Dib, one of the defense lawyers. To support his
claim, al-Dib submitted documents to the court showing that five years ago his
client was held on suspicion of belonging to a militant Muslim group. Since
homosexuality is forbidden in the Muslim culture, al-Dib said the charges
contradict each other. The group of men, most of them in their 20s, were
arrested after allegedly attending a gay party aboard a boat on the Nile
River. If found guilty of violating public morality laws, the men could face
up to three years in prison.
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