13 - 19 September 2001
Issue No.551
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 13 - 19 September 2001 Issue No.551 |
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Contradictions emerge in 'debauchery' case
As the trial of a group of Egyptian men on charges of "habitual debauchery" continues, conflicting stories concerning the arrests and confessions begin to emerge. Rana Allam was present at the hearings
A State Security Misdemeanours Court held its fourth session of hearings on 5 September in a case brought against 52 Egyptian men, accused of immoral behaviour. As in previous hearings, the men, handcuffed and dressed in white T-shirts, hid their faces from press photographers. This time, and in a first for the trial, the presiding judge allowed into the courtroom foreign television cameras which remained glued on the defendants. But the seven television cameramen were not welcomed by defendants and their families who responded to the cameras' gaze with a slew of criticisms and taunts. The next hearing will be held on 19 September.
During the four months in which defendants have been held in custody, demonstrations protesting this arrest and detention have been held outside Egyptian embassies in several parts of the world. US congressmen and members of parliament in several countries signed petitions demanding defendants' release. International human rights organisations have also let their opposition to the trial be known and several foreign embassies in Cairo sent representatives to attend the hearings.
The usual scuffles between police and families trying to get into the courtroom were repeated. And in a tense atmosphere, families of the defendants who managed to enter the courtroom an hour into the session passed slippers, cigarettes and small amounts of money to the men from the small space between the guards and the iron-barred dock where the defendants were held. The slippers were said to be important because some of the men reportedly lost their footwear as they were pushed by guards from one place to another.
The defendants wept and recited verses from the Holy Qur'an. Standing in their iron-barred dock, the accused were clearly making concerted efforts to remain calm as the prosecutor made his presentation, but failed to contain their emotions on several occasions. They shouted, "these are lies and we were forced to admit to crimes we did not commit."
Prosecutor Ashraf Helal recounted the confessions allegedly made by the defendants to having practiced "habitual debauchery." He said nine men admitted to "having sex with other men indiscriminately." Later in his presentation, he said all 52 defendants admitted to habitual debauchery.
The prosecutor also mentioned that medical examinations proved that some defendants had repeatedly engaged in sex with other men. But he argued that precautions could have been taken by any defendant to prevent a medical exam from revealing his sexual practices.
Helal said that the defendants used the Internet to disseminate their ideas and become acquainted with each other, vowing that "Egypt will not become a den of moral depravity."
Although earlier police reports had stated that 55 men were arrested on 11 May from the Queen Boat restaurant and three of them were later released, the prosecutor told the court last week that only 33 men were arrested at the restaurant. The other defendants must have been arrested, therefore, from other places, as some of them insisted earlier. "He went out to get my medicine from the pharmacy and did not come back," said the mother of one of the defendants three weeks ago. Others claim to have been taken from their homes, from the streets or from coffee shops. And three claim that they were arrested due to cases of mistaken identity.
The men have pleaded not guilty and are being defended by nearly 50 lawyers. Lawyer Taher Abul-Nasr of the Hesham Mubarak Legal Aid Centre said that the forensic reports showed that only 15 defendants had engaged in sexual relations with other men. Another lawyer, Bassem Abdel-Rahman, said, "We are going to prove that most of the men behind bars are innocent."
The first two defendants are charged with "contempt of religion" in addition to "habitual debauchery." Lawyer Farid El-Deeb claimed that his client was arrested two weeks before the Queen Boat raid. He said a police report described his client as a member of the Islamist Jihad group. "Now, how could he be an Islamist and gay at the same time?" El-Deeb asked.
He also said that photographs allegedly seized from his client's home date back to 1994, and should be dropped from the evidence because they are old. El-Deeb accused the prosecution of using torture to force defendants to make confessions.
The case is being heard under the emergency law, in force since 1981. This legislation widens the state's recourse to State Security Courts under which defendants do not have the right of appeal. But several lawyers said they were confident that many of the defendants would be acquitted.
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