"I have orders to be extra careful" - Prosecutor confesses to lawyer. In what is an obvious indication that the Egyptian Government is trying to influence the prosecution of so called "crimes of perversion," a prosecutor in a key case has confessed that he had "orders to be extra careful." Here is the news as we received it today [ 27th January ] January 27th, this news just in from a source in Cairo. Today was the second hearing in the case of the 4 men in Bulaq, Giza, accused of ‘debauchery’. For the second time, the accused men were not taken to the court to appear before the judge. The court was adjourned until February 3rd, 2001. As for the Damanhour detainees, unfortunately the lawyer was delayed on the way to the courtroom and was unable to enter. All the information he was able to procure was that the prosecutor’s office had decided to hold them for another 45 days pending further investigation. He tried everything in order to talk to them or get inside to see them, but was prevented. The Prosecutor told him: “I have orders to be extra careful in this particular case”. The lawyer told us to give him a few days, and that he would try to obtain some information from unofficial sources. Latest from IGLHRC on the arrests in Damanhour Court Case starts with Judge shouting "Bring in the faggots." Press Release International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Egypt: The Hunt Against Homosexuals Continues Additional Arrests Reported in Damanhour. For Immediate Release: January 20, 2002 For additional information, contact: Sydney Levy, +1-415-255-8680 (office), +1-415-577-8680 (cell), sydney@iglhrc.org SAN FRANCISCO - At least eight more men have been arrested in Egypt on suspicion of homosexual behavior, in what the press called a crackdown on a "network of perverts." The arrests, following on last year's trial of 52 men for homosexuality, suggest a steadily growing pattern of persecution. At the same time the trial of four men arrested for homosexuality on November 10, 2001 opened today in Cairo and was postponed until next week. "Enough is enough! The government of Egypt must stop these arrests now," declared Scott Long, Program Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "Too many people are sitting in jail whose only crime is to be suspected of homosexuality. Homosexuality is not perverse, the behavior of the Egyptian government is." The independent newspaper Al-Wafd reported on January 20 that eight men were arrested for the "practice of debauchery" in Damanhour, capital of the province of Al-Beheira, southwest of Alexandria. Police confiscated "an address book containing the names and addresses of a large number of perverts," the newspaper said, raising fears of further arrests. "With these arrests and the fear of more to come, the Egyptian authorities are terrorizing their own population," added Mr. Long. The newspaper article was headlined, "Major Network of Perverts Arrested in Al-Beheira: Social Security employee used his home as a lair for the practice of debauchery." The report said that "A group of investigators stormed the apartment, and the eight defendants were caught in debauched positions during a party for group perversions. They were wearing nightgowns and makeup." The civil servant who owned the apartment was arrested along with all others present. The prisoners reportedly included an upholsterer (52 years old), a shoe-shiner (52 years old), a factory employee (37 years old), a mechanic (32 years old), and a carter (19 years old). All are being held for four days--presumably until January 23--"pending investigations." Damanhour prosecutor Yaseen Zaghloul ordered that the men be subjected to medical examinations of their genitals and anuses. In related news, the trial of four men arrested for homosexuality on November 10, 2001, in the Boulak suburb of Cairo, opened today, but was postponed for a week because the jail had neglected to send the prisoners to court. The judge opened the proceedings by demanding of the bailiff, "Where are the khawalat [a demeaning term for transvestites or homosexuals]. Bring in the khawalat"--language indicating that the chance of a fair hearing in the case is slim. Provisions in Egypt's Law 10 of 1961 on the Combat of Prostitution criminalizing the "habitual practice of debauchery" are widely used not only against sex workers but against consensual homosexual behavior. The arrest raids mentioned above, including the "Cairo 52," are based on this law. In addition two Egyptian university students were entrapped by undercover police agents and sent to hard labor under this law. In the "Cairo 52" case the Emergency State Security Court in Cairo sentenced 23 presumed homosexuals to one to five years of hard labor on November 14. These sentences cannot be appealed. At the same time the Court acquitted 29 additional defendants. Despite international pleas the Egyptian government refuses to pardon the remaining 23 men. All fifty-two were arrested on the night of the May 10, 2001 in a raid of the Queen Boat discotheque in Cairo or in random police pickups during the following days. The 52 were held for over six months without bail. Defense lawyers argued that proper arrest procedures were not followed, that the arrests were made at random, and that charges were fabricated after the arrest. There are enough irregularities in the arrests and handling of this case to suggest that the "Cairo 52" may have been framed. The State-controlled media engaged in a campaign of vilification against the 52, publishing their names, and creating an environment of scandal around them, branding them perverts, blasphemous, and traitors. The Cairo 52 trials have been condemned by international human rights organizations, members of US Congress and the United Nations. For background information on the Cairo 52 please see "Egyptian Justice on Trial: The Case of the Cairo 52" at http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2001Oct.html, and "One to Five Years of Hard Labor for 23 Presumed Homosexuals" at http://www.iglhrc.org/news/press/pr_011114.html. For background information on the November 10, 2001 arrests, see " More Arrests of Presumed Homosexuals in Egypt: Details Parallel Cairo 52 Case" at http://www.iglhrc.org/news/press/pr_011115.html. For background information on the conviction of the 2 entrapped students, see " Act *Now* Against Internet Entrapment and Renewed Persecution: New Prison Terms Handed Down for Alleged Homosexual Behavior" at http://www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2002Jan.html. IGLHRC is a US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to protect and advance the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status. ### International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission 1360 Mission Street, Suite 200 o San Francisco, CA 94103 USA T: 1.415.255.8680 F: 1.415.255.8662 E: iglhrc@iglhrc.org http://www.iglhrc.org 8 More Gay Men Arrested in Al Beheira The following news has just been received from a source in Egypt at approximately 9.20pm London time Sunday 20 January. Today the court heard the case of the 4 people whose arrest was in the newspapers on the same day of the 52 verdicts. The jail neglected to send the prisoners to court, So the judge adjourned the hearing to next week, 12/27. However, the judge’s bigotry became apparent in court before the trial started; when he found the prisoners were not already in the courtroom, he turned to the bailiff and said, “Where are the ‘khawalat’ (faggots)? Bring in the ‘khawalat’.” On the same day, Al-Wafd , an opposition newspaper, was the only one to publish a news item concerning the arrest of a “new network of perverts” in the city of Damanhour, the capital of El-Beheira Governorate, near Alexandria. It seems clear that the government newspapers have received instructions not to publish news of these new arrests so as not to stir up world opinion against them as was the case with the Cairo 52. Several arrests of this type have in fact taken place with no mention in the newspapers, obviously a result of this new policy. What follows is a translation of the Al-Wafd coverage. <> <> Beheira –By Mohamed Salah: The Beheira prosecutor’s office has declared that the eight defendants in the perversion case will be held for 4 days pending investigations. Yaseen Zaghloul, the prosecutor for Damanhour, ordered that they be referred to the Coroner for a medical examination. Beheira detectives had previously arrested the largest perverts’ network, run by a social security official. The civil servant had turned his house into a lair for debauchery, perversion, orgies and drugs. A group of investigators stormed the apartment, and the eight defendants were caught in debauched positions during a party for group perversions [sic]. They were wearing nightgowns and makeup. Security forces found an address book containing the names and addresses of a large number of perverts who frequented the lair in the city of Damanhour. Investigations had indicated that the civil servant (42 years old) had turned his home into a lair for debauchery, perversion and drug abuse. Investigations also revealed that the employee had been married but that his marriage had only lasted 26 days, after which time he had been divorced when his wife caught him practicing perversion with a pervert [sic] on the rooftop of the conjugal home. After the divorce, he turned his home into a lair for perversion and debauchery, and another employee at the Council for Youth and Sport (44 years old) used his position to entice perverted young men to him. The list of defendants arrested included an upholsterer (52 years old), a shoe-shiner (52 years old), a workshop owner (39 years old) an employee at a rice factory (37 years old) a mechanic (32 years old) and a carter (19 years old) ---- End of coverage. These wholesale accusations are exactly the same characteristic of the media frenzy around the Cairo 52, especially the accusation of wearing nightgowns and makeup, although (in the case of the 52) they were arrested from the street or a public discotheque; no-one was wearing anything other than trousers and a shirt or T-shirt, and certainly no makeup. Note the repetition of the phrase ‘turned his home into a lair for debauchery/perversion’; it occurs no less than 4 separate times in the news item. This reminds me of the case tried today, of the 4 defendants accused of – also – running a ‘lair for perversion’. When we spoke to these 4 people, they said there were not only no orgies, there was no apartment, and they had been arrested on the street, through an informer, and that they didn’t even know each other – when their lawyer asked the prosecutor to supply him with the address of the alleged apartment, the prosecutor did not reply. Latest news 22 May 2012: Cairo psychiatrist claims he can "cure" 70 to 75 per cent of gay teenagers.