Egypt: Appeal verdict set for men jailed over ‘gay wedding’ video
Eight men who were jailed in Egypt over a video which purportedly showed a mock same-sex wedding will hear their appeal verdict next month.
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 were jailed this month on charges of spreading indecent images and inciting debauchery, despite reports that ‘doctors’ who subjected the men to intrusive tests for homosexuality had found that they were not gay.
However, Cairo’s misdemeanour court heard an appeal from the men – who claim they did nothing wrong and that the ceremony was a joke.
The court said today that it will release its verdict on 27 December – amid calls for the men to be freed.
Nicholas Piachaud, Egypt researcher at Amnesty International, told PinkNews previously: “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.”
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.
52 men were arrested in a raid on a ‘gay’ party in 2001, with 23 of the men receiving prison terms.
