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Five Egyptian
men sentenced to prison for being gay
09 Apr 2008- Cairo, Egypt- Five Egyptian men were sentenced Apr 9
to three years in prison for being gay. Four of the men were targeted by
police because of their HIV status, and all five were charged with
"habitual practice of debauchery" — a term used in the Egyptian legal
system to refer to gay sex.
Since Oct 2007, Cairo police have embarked on a witchhunt for people
suspected of being HIV-positive. Police have arbitrarily arrested 12
men, and in January, four men were sentenced to a year in prison on
"debauchery" charges.
An article from Bloomberg News
suggests that the recent wave of arrests have been sparked by an effort
of the Egyptian government to "out-moralize Islamic parties that have
denounced the perceived depravity of Arab societies under autocratic
rule" (via
towleroad.com).
The five men sentenced Apr 9 will receive three years in prison,
followed by three years of close police supervision, reports AP.
The arrests and trials have drawn international outrage. On Apr 7, over
100 health and human rights organizations
wrote to the Egyptian Ministry of Health,
urging doctors to stop sharing patient's HIV status with police. They
also called for police to stop HIV-related arrests, for charges against
all the men to be dropped, and for the repeal of laws against gay sex.
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