- CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian
court has sentenced a man to five years in jail and 22 to up to three years
on charges which included "practising sexual immorality", a local
euphemism for homosexuality, a court source says.
-
- Twenty-nine men were acquitted in the state security
court trial on Wednesday which has been condemned as unfair by
international
rights groups.
-
- Sherif Farahat was given five years for "forming
a group which aims to exploit the Islamic religion to propagate extremist
ideas" and "denigrating monotheistic religions", as well
as "practising sexual immorality", the source said.
-
- Of the other 22 found guilty, one received the maximum
three years for "sexual immorality", 20 more received two years,
and another man received one year.
-
- Under Egypt's emergency laws, the convicted men have
no right of appeal and can only overturn the sentences through a petition
to President Hosni Mubarak.
-
- "Of course we condemn it," one Western diplomat
who attended the court session said of the verdict.
-
- The men were arrested in May after a raid on a floating
nightclub called the Queen Boat, known locally as a popular gay venue.
Others were rounded up elsewhere on the same evening.
-
- Rights groups say Egypt misuses the emergency laws,
introduced
after Islamic militants assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981. They
say the men were on trial for their sexual orientation and exercising
freedom
of speech and association.
-
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