Egypt refers suspected homosexuals to trial

Cairo: Egyptian prosecutors on Wednesday referred 26 men to trial on charges of inciting debauchery, a legal term used in Egypt for suspected homosexuals.

The first hearing of the trial is due to start at the Cairo Misdemeanour Court on Sunday, in what will be the second such trial in recent months.

The defendants were arrested in a police raid last week on a bathhouse in central Cairo. They include 21 suspected gays, the owner of the bathhouse and four assistants.

They all denied charges during investigations, although medical tests proved they had been involved in “practising debauchery”, a judicial source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Rights groups have repeatedly criticised Egyptian authorities for performing anal testing on suspected homosexuals.

The arrests were made a month after an Egyptian court sentenced eight men to three years in prison each after they had appeared in a video celebrating an alleged same-sex marriage.

The video, which went viral online, shows two of them exchanging kisses and rings on a Nile boat cruise as the others cheered for them in what prosecutors said was a gay marriage party.

There is no explicit ban or punishment for homosexuality in Egyptian law. Suspects are often charged with inciting debauchery and outraging public morals.