Egypt State
Security Court Sentences 23 Gay Brothers to Prison
With Hard Labor. This is
an Atrocity Against Human Rights and
Horrendous Persecution of Gays
and Lesbians in Egypt.
The two [2] men
identified by the court and prosecutor as the ringleaders,
received
the harshest
and longest prison terms.
Sherif Farahat: Convicted of debauchery, contempt of religion, falsely
interpreting the Quran [Koran] and exploiting
Islam to promote deviant ideas.
Was sentenced to five years of hard labor.
Mahmoud Ahmed Allam: Convicted of falsely
interpreting the Quran
[Koran]
and exploiting Islam to promote
deviant ideas. He
was acquitted on charges
of debauchery.
Was sentenced
to three years of hard
labor.
Twenty [20] Men were convicted of
"obscene behavior."
Each were sentenced to 2
years of hard labor.
One [1] Man was
convicted of "obscene
behavior."
He was sentenced to 1
year of hard labor.
One [1] 16 year-old boy,
September 18, was sentenced to 3 years
imprisonment
by Cairo Juvenile Court
Twenty-Nine [29] Men were
acquitted of charges. We assume they are to be
released,
but, this was stated in
news accounts, at the time this release was
sent.
Tampa Bay Coalition, is
continuing with our efforts in contacting Egyptian
Government Officials,
requesting/demanding the release of Our Gay Egyptian
Brothers. And in
contacting United States
and Other
Countries Government
Officials
in attempts of generating their support and
requesting they call for
upon the Egyptian
Government to unconditionally release.
We remain committed
in our support and with working
together with GayEgypt.Com, Amnesty International,
International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and other
individuals and groups working
for our Gay Egyptians Brothers
release.
We will continue to post the contact
information of those to be contacted for those
who wish to help gain the 23
gay Egyptians imprisoned and update our web site
with
additional information as it become
available.
Below is background information the
atrocity against gay Egyptians, we ask you take
a moment to view this
information. Once you see exactly what the Men and
their
Families and Loved Ones, you will want
to add your voice to the many others calling
for Our Gay Egyptians Brothers Immediate
Release and Freedom from continued
Persecution by Egyptian
Government.
Egypt's persecution of Gay
Men,that is based solely on their
sexual orientation,
is a blatant
infringement and horrendous violation
of their human rights. Egypt
has no Laws that declares
homosexuality a criminal offence. Yet
on May 11,
Egypt's repressive judicial
system, allowed police to arrest
fifty-five men. And
bring charges against them,
not based on the rule of law, but, based on religious
beliefs and their alleged
sexual orientation. That also allows for
their immediate
imprisonment and to be
held incognito. Which stripped the men of
any and all
their
fundamental human rights. They were denied the right to contact their
family,
loved
ones or even legal counsel. Police
refused to release any information on
the men's
conditions or
names to family members, attempting to locate loved ones,
who may be in police
custody. The men, with no right to refuse, were forced, to
undergo
invasive physical examinations, for the
purpose of obtaining evidence
that was used
in many of their prosecution. Their charges
based on religion not
law, has brought them
harsh and
lengthy sentences to prison. The trial was held
in Emergency State
Security Court,
where verdicts and sentencing does not
allow
for the right of
appeal. This type judicial
system fails to protect the most basic
of
human rights of gay and lesbian
Egyptians. It has exposed to what great lengths
government officials will go, in
persecuting it's citizens
based on their alleged
sexual
orientation.