Crime

Amnesty International condemns Egypt for ‘shameful’ jailing of men over gay wedding video

Nov 03 2014
Written by Nick Duffy

Amnesty International has condemned the jailing of eight men in Egypt over a video which appeared to show a mock same-sex wedding.

The men were arrested in September, after a video leaked online appearing to show an unofficial same-sex wedding ceremony on a riverboat in the Nile.

A clip from the party was posted in April, but had gone viral in Egypt recently, with many calling for the men to be identified and put to death.

All of the men appeared before a court last week, and were sentenced to three years in jail on charges of spreading indecent images and inciting debauchery.

Nicholas Piachaud, Egypt researcher at Amnesty International, told PinkNews: “This is a shameful sentence. It’s discrimination dressed up as morality and these men are the latest victims of Egypt’s war on difference.”

The sentence came despite reports that ‘doctors’ who subjected the arrested men to intrusive tests for homosexuality had found that they were not gay.

The public prosecutor previously claimed the video was “humiliating, regrettable and would anger God”.

Homosexuality is illegal in Egypt, and it is feared that the police are cracking down on the gay community after a surge in raids and arrests earlier this year.

In April, a court sentenced four gay men to jail sentences of up to eight years for “debauchery”, after they threw a party.

52 men were arrested in a raid on a ‘gay’ party in 2001, with 23 of the men receiving prison terms.