Last edited: January 03, 2005


Reports Suggest More Arrests in Egypt

Planet Out, November 2, 2001
http://www.planetout.com/pno/news/article.html?2001/11/02/4

By Jon ben Asher, 365Gay.com

LONDON—Reports coming out of Egypt claim the government has arrested several dozen gay men.

Egyptian gay rights site GayEgypt.com says it has not been able to confirm the arrests but reports that it has received information that the men were detained by police in the affluent Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, not far from Cairo’s international airport. It says additional arrests have been made near the pyramids.

British magazine Gay Times reports it has also received information of the arrests.

In addition, GayEgypt.com says there has been an intensification of arrests of Egyptians placing personal ads on the Internet.

It says that it believes the government is attempting to keep the arrests quiet following the international outcry which followed the arrests of 52 men in May when police raided a gay club on a Nile riverboat.

The Web site, the largest site aimed at gay Egyptians, says it believes the families of those most recently arrested may be afraid to talk to reporters. Following the May arrests, relatives of those accused of "defaming Islam" were victimized after names and addresses were published in the media.

GayEgypt.com is advising its readers to avoid always logging on from the same location out of concern the government is monitoring the ISPs of users.

It is also urging gays and lesbians around the world to boycott the country.


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