EGYPT: Court Bans Foreign Gays

An Egyptian court yesterday ruled that the government has the right to deport foreigners accused of homosexuality and ban them from returning. J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

According to a judgement obtained by BuzzFeed News, the case has its roots in the 2008 arrest of a Libyan man who police alleged to be gay in their report. While the court documents leave unclear precisely what he was arrested for — or what charges were brought against the man, who remains anonymous in the judgement — as with many foreign nationals who are arrested in Egypt, the Egyptian government deported him based on this arrest and barred him from reentering the country. He sued to be allowed to return so that he could complete graduate studies at the Arabic Academy for Maritime Transport, arguing that the interior minister did not have the power to block him from the country.

Judge Yahia Dakrory, who issued the ruling, rejected this argument, and said that the interior ministry lawfully used its power to protect “the general benefits, religious values, social morals of society and to prevent the spreading of social ills,” according to the ruling. The ruling comes amidst an ongoing crackdown on LGBT rights by the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but the case decided on Tuesday was filed well before he took power with help of the military in 2013. It is not immediately clear whether this ruling will have implications beyond this case. It comes following a series of high-profile trials of people on “debauchery” charges accused of homosexuality, which a government official told BuzzFeed News in September was part of an effort by the Sisi government to neutralize attacks by the Muslim Brotherhood on the regime’s secular nature.

More from Daily News Egypt:

Although homosexuality is not against the law, it is strongly disapproved of and the courts typically prosecute on charges of debauchery or undermining public morality as substitute charges. With the Ministry of Interior behind banning and deporting foreign homosexuals, it is unclear how such a strategy could be practically implemented. Daily News Egypt spoke to a young foreign gay man who has lived in Cairo for a year and a half. “In Cairo, the way I live my life it’s not such a big deal, but I generally don’t mention it to people. In the US everyone knew I was gay it was not an issue. Here I wait a lot longer before telling people, there are a lot more things that can go wrong and there’s always a vague sense of paranoia that some trouble might happen during the day.”

EGYPT: Bathhouse Raid Organizer Mona Iraqi To Face Trial On Defamation Charges

Via the Egypt Daily News:

Journalist Mona Iraqi, who faced international criticism for leading a televised police sting on 26 men she accused of engaging in homosexual activity, is to face court. The prosecution has approved to have her tried for charges including defamation. Alongside Tarek Nour, owner of the channel Al-Qahera Wal-Nas which broadcasts the show, Iraqi will face charges of publishing false news, libel and defamation with 5 April set as the date for preliminary hearings.

The Azbekeya Misdemeanour Court acquitted the 26 men of the charges of “debauchery” and “organising same-sex orgies” following claims on Iraqi’s show that men at the bathhouse were there for homosexual activities. Tarek Al-Awadi, the lawyer of the defendants in the bathhouse case and also responsible for the lawsuit against Iraqi, previously told Daily News Egypt: “In case that private satellite station Al-Qahera Wal-Nas (Cairo and the People) will not publish an official statement apologising for the actions of its employees, we will continue to escalate.”

In a separate incident, last week Iraqi was briefly arrested for filming without permission at a Cairo school. Iraqi claims the school is issuing counterfeit US diplomas.

Meet Egypt's Anus Inspector

J. Lester Feder writes at Buzzfeed:

When asked to explain what Cairo’s medical inspectors look for when they examine someone who’s been arrested for homosexuality, Dr. Maged Louis picked up a pen and started sketching an oval with sharp points on both ends. “The shape of the hole will change,” he said. The anus “won’t be normal any more and will look like the female vagina.” More than 150 people have been arrested on charges of homosexuality since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took power just under two years ago, the largest roundup of alleged LGBT people in more than a decade in Egypt. Anal exams are a routine part of the investigation in such cases, and Louis has a role in overseeing all of them. He is the deputy director of the Justice Ministry’s Forensic Medical Authority, as well as the chief of forensic medicine for the Cairo police district. The tests are intended not just to determine whether someone has ever had anal sex, but also to detect “chronic homosexuals,” because the letter of Egyptian law only criminalizes men who engage in “habitual debauchery.” Louis said that he believed that in addition to their elongation, the anuses of “chronic homosexuals” also don’t clench when touched or don’t contract as tightly. They are smooth and lack the “corrugations” — wrinkles — found on “normal” anuses, he said.

Feder notes that anal exams by police are routine in countries that criminalize homosexuality.

EGYPT: Man Arrested In Bathhouse Raid Attempts To Burn Himself To Death

Scott Long reports at Paper Bird:

One of the 26 men arrested, tortured, and ultimately acquitted in the December 7 raid on a Cairo bathhouse has tried to burn himself to death. El-Watan newspaper claims to have spoken to him yesterday in hospital. “I work in a restaurant in the Shobra district,” he told them. “I’m harassed constantly in my workplace by the words of the people and the looks in their eyes.” He said that since his acquittal his fearful family controlled his movements and tried to keep from leaving the house, that one of his brothers insisted on accompanying him everywhere he went, and that he had “no freedom”. Eight days ago, he set himself on fire. “I am very tired,” he said. He has been confined in one of Cairo’s largest public hospitals since his suicide attempt, and he complained of neglect and mistreatment. Tarek el-Awady, one of the defense lawyers who is now pressing a lawsuit against journalist Mona Iraqi, said the man’s sufferings were due to “the narrowness of the society’s point of view.”

Mona Iraqi, who led and filmed the bathhouse raid and spent weeks vilifying the “den of perversion” on her popular TV program El Mostakhbai (“The Hidden”) will not be repentant. After the acquittal, there were reports she’d be fired. Instead, on February 4, she returned to the attack on air, blasting her critics, insinuating they were foreign agents. She reiterated nonsensically that her raid was all about “sex trafficking,” or preventing AIDS; at the same time, with serene inconsistency, she pointed to “evidence” — from Google searches — that the bathhouse was a gay hangout, undercutting her repeated claim that homosexuality had not been at issue. Lt. Col. Ahmed Hashad, the vice squad officer who planned the raid with her, also appeared on-air, talking about his “secret, extended investigation” of the bathhouse. The acquittal should have humiliated Hashad — the court clearly accepted the defense contention that he fabricated evidence. But he’s not disgraced, he’s an official talking head on morals. Egypt’s police stand by their woman and their man.

EGYPT: Prosecutors Appeal Acquittal Of Men Arrested In Cairo Bathhouse Raid

Scott Long writes at Paper Bird:

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights tells me (and the newspaper Al Wafd reports tonight) that the prosecution has formally appealed the not-guilty verdict against the 26 men. The prosecution has the right to appeal twice, under Egyptian law — once to an appeals court, and after that to the Court of Cassation. We don’t know whether the appeal will be accepted and a new trial held. Our understanding is that the law requires the existing verdict to be implemented pending the appeal — that is, the men should be freed. But the police will very likely try to find some pretext to keep them detained. What this shows is that the state is still hellbent on persecuting these men to the limits of its power.

Long notes that "plans are underway" to sue Mona Iraqi, the reporter who instigated the raid. Iraqi was on vacation in Paris during the trial.

EGYPT: Men Arrested In Cairo Bathhouse Raid Are Acquitted Of All Charges

Via the BBC:

An Egyptian court has cleared 26 men arrested after a raid on a bath house in Cairo last month and charged with "inciting debauchery". The men were arrested a month after eight men were jailed for appearing in a video alleged to show a gay marriage. Rights groups have condemned Egypt's treatment of gay people, in particular the use of anal testing to determine whether people are homosexual. Though homosexuality is legal in Egypt, it remains a taboo. Families of those cleared reacted with jubilation in court when the verdict was announced. The Daily Telegraph's Louisa Loveluck, who witnessed the trial, said that according to lawyers at least one of the men had been raped while in the custody of Cairo police. She added that the defendants were standing in a cage, handcuffed together and trying to cover their faces. At the time of the arrests, local prosecutors said that the bath house owner was "accused of turning the facility into a site of immoral and indecent conduct and group homosexuality".

More from CBS News:

The defendants had faced between 1-9 years in prison on varying degrees of "debauchery" -- the most common Egyptian legal term used in cases against men accused of homosexuality. Though homosexuality is not technically illegal in Egypt, the police and courts have a history of persecuting the gay community in this socially-conservative country. That Monday's ruling went they way it did surprised many observers. "It's unprecedented," said longtime human rights activist Scott Long. "This just doesn't happen." The session lasted barely a minute -- just enough time for the judge to do a roll-call of the defendants' names before uttering a single word: "innocent." The court immediately erupted into raucous celebration as the men inside the courtroom cage shouted and waved their shackled hands and attending relatives yelled and sobbed in relief.

And from Reuters:

A pro-government television station showed video of police dragging the half-naked men out of the bath house last month. They were subsequently charged with debauchery. Covering their faces with sweaters or hats, they were marched into the courtroom on Monday, a police officer kicking one and urging them to hurry as they approached a cage used to hold defendants during court sessions. Highlighting sensitivities in Egypt, a conservative Arab state, people in the court exploded in anger when a journalist took a picture of the men. Someone tried to choke the photographer. The most recent case to make headlines saw eight men sentenced to three years in jail in November after they appeared in an online video purporting to show the country's first gay marriage ceremony.

VIDEO: Families of the defendants rejoice.

(Tipped by JMG readers Bruce and John)

EGYPT: Bathouse Raid Trial Continues, Defense Claims Violations Of Privacy

Via the Associated Press:

One lawyer representing 14 of the men, Islam Khalifa, told the court Sunday that the defendants suffered "psychological duress" from the publicized arrests, which defamed and endangered both them and their families in conservative Egypt. He said having the television crew there violated the men's right to privacy and Egypt's constitution. Of the 26 men, 21 have undergone medical examinations to see if they had had anal sex. Three of men had trauma that required further examination, defense lawyer Tarek al-Awadi said. The men face charges including debauchery and performing indecent public acts. Such vague terms can apply to prostitution or even public display of affection. Their trial began Dec. 21. On Sunday, the men stood in a small cage in the court, some with hoodies covering their face. Two wept in front of journalists, who were not allowed to approach them. Family members were not allowed to attend the session, apparently to avoid outbursts as lawyers discussed details of the case. Angry family members largely refused to speak to the journalists gathered there, accusing them of trying to slander their relatives. "We are innocent! We were scandalized! No one in our family is gay!" one screamed.

The men face up to 17 years in prison.

EGYPT: At The Bathhouse Raid Trial

Earlier this month 26 men were arrested in a police raid on a Cairo bathhouse. Veteran activist Scott Long was in the courthouse yesterday for the opening of the trial. An excerpt:

Police opened the courtroom doors at about 1:40 and let 60 or 70 people press through. The next twenty minutes were pure chaos. Guards hustled the cowed defendants in, bowed and chained in a line at the wrists, while the bailiff at the door beat them over the shoulders. The men were locked in the courtroom cage. Then, having admitted the families to see their sons humiliated, the guards decided to throw them out. This I remember from the Queen Boat trial in 2001 — the first time I ever attended a court in Egypt: in high-profile cases, the families are brutally barred from the hearing, while journalists are let in, as if the state wants to show off its achievements. The screaming and wailing were unbearable. To call the scene heartrending gives life to the cliché. Even my old heart, ragged as an ancient land deed, was shredded to scraps and kindling. One mother, while the cops forced her out of the room, shouted to her son in the cage: “Remember you’re a man! Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid of anyone except God!” Another woman had come with a daughter and a boy of about 10. The child cried uncontrollably as he crouched on the benches, and he cried still more as he watched his mother manhandled and thrown out just before he was.

Hit the link and read the full report.

EGYPT: Immediate Trial Date Set For 26 Men Arrested In Bathhouse Raid

Via the Associated Press:

Egyptian official says prosecutors have referred 26 men arrested in a raid on a bath house to trial on charges connected to their suspected homosexuality. The prosecution official said Wednesday the trial will begin Sunday, a quick referral in a case that has captured public attention following the men's televised arrest. Scenes of half-naked men escorted by policemen out of the bath house in Cairo on Dec. 7 were filmed by a private TV channel and later aired amid criticism from activists. Many in the public were also stunned by the widely circulated pictures of the bathers covering their faces from cameras.

The speedy trial date is considered highly unusual as Egypt's backlogged court system typically means waits of up to a year. The men have been charged with "debauchery" as homosexuality is technically legal in Egypt.

WaPo On Egypt's Anti-Gay Crackdown

Via the Washington Post:

Egypt’s government has aggressively cracked down on Islamist and liberal opponents over the past year. Now officials are increasingly targeting another group: gay people. Police raided a public bathhouse in Cairo this month and arrested at least two dozen men, parading them half-naked in front of television cameras before hauling them off to prison. It was the latest in a series of police busts at suspected meeting places of homosexuals across the country. Arrests of gay people have been on the rise since President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi seized power in a military coup in 2013, but in recent months the arrests have escalated, rights groups say. “It’s a full-on crackdown on all sorts of freedoms,” said a prominent gay rights activist in Egypt, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing crackdown. “There is a lot of fear in Egypt’s gay community,” he said. “Many people want to leave the country.”

Homosexuality is technically legal in Egypt. Those arrested have been charged with "debauchery." More from the above-linked article:

The bathhouse raid, on Dec. 7, was particularly troubling for the gay community, activists here say. Not only was a television crew from a popular satellite channel on hand to document the operation, but the channel’s own journalists also had prompted the arrests by informing police that gay men went to the location to have sex. The channel, Al Kahera Wal Nas, had planned to feature the bathhouse, or hammam, in a special report on AIDS in Egypt, calling it a “den of sin” but offering no proof that any illegal activity had taken place there. Bathhouses are popular in the Arab world, with men and often women visiting them to relax in hot baths or steam rooms. “This is the first time I have seen such close coordination between the media and the security forces” on an anti-gay raid, said the activist who is outside Egypt.

A coalition of local civil rights groups have issued a denouncement of Mona Iraqi, the reporter seen in the photo above. Via press release:

Mona Iraqi took the media frenzy to a new level as she transformed the job of a presenter to that of an informant, working for the police, reporting to them what she thinks is a crime. Those who were arrested did not commit any crime punishable by law. Yet various media outlets promoted the idea that the biggest sex ring in Egypt for “practising deviance “ had been arrested, before any verdict was reached or any accusation against those individuals was actually proven. Iraqi boasted about her reporting, calling it a heroic deed and a "moral triumph." She took pictures of those arrested, in clear violation of the basic ethics of journalism. The signatories to this statement condemn most strongly what this media presenter did.

Her acts disgrace the professions of media and journalism. We assert that the person who violated the law is the presenter and not the men who were arrested. Besides prying into people's intentions and their private, consensual practices, this presenter clearly violated articles 75 and 58 of the law of criminal procedures: these prohibit anyone from disseminating information about persons arrested by the police to others who do not have standing in the case. We demand that the presenter, Mona Iraqi, be held accountable before the law for misusing her profession to violate the privacy of others and slander and misrepresent them, and for pursuing professional benefit regardless of consequences.

EGPYT: State TV Reports On Bathhouse Raid In Which Dozens Were Arrested

Via J. Lester Feder at Buzzfeed:

The Egyptian TV presenter who claims to have reported “group sex” at a Cairo bathhouse to police prompting a raid on Sunday aired her report late Monday evening. The program, by Mona Iraqi of the channel Al-Qahira wal Nas, presents her 26-minute report as an investigation into the spread of AIDS in Egypt, but seems designed to fan a moral panic about homosexuality that has been building since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seized power last spring, leading to the arrest of more than 100 individuals on charges of homosexuality. Government officials told BuzzFeed News in September that a crackdown on LGBT rights was part of the political strategy of the Sisi regime, which is vulnerable to attack from the Muslim Brotherhood for not adequately defending Islamic values. “Our episode to day is to inform you about what hidden behind AIDS in Egypt,” Iraqi says. She noted that the report was made to coincide with World AIDS Day, on Dec.1, but the broadcast was delayed “for security reasons.” “Our society is full of disasters … and if we kept hiding from that without facing those disasters, frankly, we will all be destroyed.”

As many as 30 men were arrested in the Sunday raid.

EGYPT: Dozens Reportedly Arrested For "Perversion" After Bathhouse Raid

Scott Long reports at Paper Bird:

At about 10 PM last night, December 7, police carried out a massive raid on a hammam (bathhouse) in the Ramsis area of Cairo, not far from the main railway station. They arrested many men — dozens, reportedly — and hauled them, stripped naked like concentration-camp inmates, to the trucks. Someone living nearby who watched the assault wrote on social media that “police together with Central Security forces attacked the bath.” (Central Security, Amn el-Merkezi, is an army force mainly composed of raw recruits. it takes over many policing duties in an increasingly militarized Egypt.) “40 people were arrested. Some were beaten up in the baths, and they were all arrested with no clothes.” He said “a female journalist and a cameraman” arrived “before they attacked the baths. She tried to enter and film inside, and she was kicked out by the owner. Immediately this was reported [to the police], and the baths were attacked. People say there were informers from the police inside the baths before that.” The reporter was Mona Iraqi, presenter for the TV program El Mostakbai (The Hidden), which airs on the pro-government Al-Qahira wal Nas (Cairo and the People) news channel. Around 2:00 this morning, Mona Iraqi posted proudly about the raid on her Facebook page — along with still shots, bearing the El Mostakbai watermark.

It is presumed that the reporter can be seen in the photo above. More photos and additional details about the raid are at the link.

RELATED: Last month eight Egyptian men were sentenced to three years in prison for appearing in an alleged same-sex wedding video filmed aboard a Nile riverboat.

EGYPT: Eight Men Sentenced To Three Years In Prison Over Wedding Video

Via CNN:

By the big smiles, warm hugs and loud cries of ululation, the video seems to show a joyous celebration. An Egyptian prosecutor looked at the same footage and saw something very different: a "satanic ceremony" with images that are "shameful, regrettable and anger God." However it is characterized, the event has landed eight men in jail for three years, an Egyptian court ruled Saturday. The men will face three years of probation upon their release, according to Egypt's state-run Ahram Online. It's all because of a roughly 1-minute video set upon a Nile riverboat. It shows several well-dressed men, one of which pulls out a ring and slips it on another man's finger. The two had a brief kiss, then hug -- all as others on the boat cry out happily around them. There's a cake with two men's picture on it. "May your night be filled with pomp and ceremony," one man says.

The sentence for "debauchery" comes despite a government-ordered physical examination of the men which concluded that they "had never had sex with other men."

Pet Shop Boys Stand With LGBT Egypt

Following recent events in Egypt, Pet Shop Boys support #18Oct_EgyLGBT. Learn more here: http://t.co/vhn4jO98kq #StandforEgyptLgbt
— Pet Shop Boys (@petshopboys) September 26, 2014

Activists are planning demonstrations at Egyptian embassies around the world on October 18th.

Because of all the prosecutions, discrimination, jailing, detentions, physical and verbal violence conduct, anal examinations, torture, deceptive, exposing and unethical media tools, humiliations, murders, the outdated cultures and believes pursued by the society and the Egyptian government against LGBTQI community members who have been living a double life full of fear and disgrace. We are calling for a solidarity protest, a stand for human rights, cause there is no excuse to be treated as such. To stop prosecuting Egyptian LGBTQI community members and show both, the society and the government that people stand for each other no matter where they are in the world. To tell both, the society and the Egyptian government, that people with diverse sexualities and gender identities can’t be punished for who they are. To deliver a message to the government in Egypt, that's what they did and they keep on doing won’t pass easily. The 18th of October, is the day in which we will become more vocal, visible and united. Join us on the 18th of October.

I'll have more details on the protests as the date gets closer.

EGYPT: Grindr Issues Entrapment Warning After Six Men Sentenced To Prison For Renting Apartment For Sex Hook-Ups

Grindr has issued the above warnings to its users in Egypt. J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

Six men were sentenced by an Egyptian court on Thursday to two years in prison with labor for allegedly advertising their apartment on Facebook for men to have sex with each other for a fee of $200 per night, reports the state-owned Egyptian news site Ahram Online based on information from “a judicial source.” This case may be the first case in which Egyptians have been caught on social media for charges of homosexuality, something human rights activists have warned could become widespread as the Egyptian government widens its crackdown on LGBT rights. Since October, around 80 people are known to have been arrested on allegations of homosexuality, including eight men who are due in court on Saturday for appearing in a video that shows a couple of men exchanging rings that made headlines throughout the Arabic press as a “gay wedding.”

Earlier this month Grindr announced that its distance function would not longer be the default feature for users in countries where homosexuality is illegal or dangerous.

REPORT: Egyptian Police Are Using Dating Apps To Hunt Down Gay Men

According to a report published by France 24, Egyptian authorities are using smartphone dating apps such as Grindr to hunt down gay men. Such tactics were predicted last month when an anonymous Grindr member contacted thousands of overseas users to warn them that their exact locations could be triangulated. The France 24 report does not mention triangulation.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt. Despite this, numerous people have been arrested while taking part in festivities celebrating gay unions and accused of “debauchery.” In May, for example, four men were arrested during a party organised in Nasr City, located east of Cairo. One of them was sentenced to 12 years of prison, the heaviest sentence ever given to an LGBT person in Egypt. According to accounts given by numerous witnesses, police are using gay online dating sites, such as Grindr, to hunt down LGBT people. Egyptian gay rights activists have published numerous messages warning members of the community to refrain from using these applications. According to several gay rights activists, at least 77 LGBT people have been arrested since October 2013.

RELATED: Earlier this week Scruff announced that a coming version of their app will hide the user's location by default in countries where being gay is illegal or simply dangerous.

When a user elects to hide his distance on SCRUFF, we not only remove the information from his profile data, but we also randomize his location on our servers. This means that, if he lives in the West Village in NYC, he could potentially appear in between two people in SoHo. However, if he uses SCRUFF in the countryside, randomizing his location by a few blocks might still not be enough. That's why we take density into account, so if you live in the city, your location will be randomized by a few blocks, but in the country it could be a few miles or more. This issue is even more critical for people who live in regions that criminalize homosexuality or male/female interaction, such as Russia and the Middle East. Hiding distance may be a smart option for people in these places to enable in all location-based apps that provide this feature. SCRUFF wants to ensure our members both who live in these countries and who travel to these countries stay informed, and in an upcoming release we will be enabling "hide distance" by default for people in these regions.

EGYPT: Nine Men Ordered Arrested For Appearing In Gay Wedding Video

An Egyptian government news agency says seven men have been detained and two others are being sought for appearing in a YouTube video that shows a gay wedding. Charges include "inciting debauchery" and "undermining public morals." Via Reuters:

Gay marriage is not legal in Egypt, a conservative Muslim society where the footage, which went viral on social media sites last month, has caused a stir online. The footage, which was posted on YouTube, appears to show a group of men celebrating a gay wedding on a Nile riverboat. The public prosecutor's office said in a statement late on Saturday the party took place in April but the footage went viral in August, causing the police to take action to identify the men. The statement said the images were "humiliating, regrettable and would anger God," concluding that they constituted a criminal act and would be investigated. The prosecutor told police to arrest the men and ordered the coroner to carry out physical examinations of all of the accused with a view to pressing charges against them for inciting debauchery and spreading images that violate public decency.

This appears to be the video.

EGYPT: Four Men Sentenced To Prison For Committing Homosexual Acts

The Associated Press reports:

A judicial official says an Egyptian court has convicted four men of committing homosexual acts and sentenced them to up to eight years in prison. The Nasr City misdemeanor court issued its ruling on Monday. Police arrested the men for holding parties they say involved homosexual acts and where they found women's clothes and makeup. Three of the four received eight years while one received three years with hard labor.

Three years ago Egypt similarly sentenced 23 allegedly gay men to up to five years in prison.

EGYPT: 14 Gay Men Arrested At Sauna

Egyptian authorities have arrested 14 gay men for "committing homosexual acts" at an underground Cairo sauna that may have presented itself as a medical center.

An Egyptian prosecutor ordered on Saturday (12 October) that they be held for four days to enable them to be sent to a pathologist 'for forensic reports'. He has also ordered and that the centre be shut down and that all evidence be confiscated whilst investigations were carried out. The Egyptian authorities raided the centre after confirmed reports that the 'immoral acts' were occurring between males aged between 18 to 57 years old. Egypt has a poor record on LGBT rights. Under the Mubarak regime, homosexuality was seen as 'taboo', with strict punishments for those accused of being gay. Following the revolution in 2011, conditions have not improved, with the previously-in-power Muslim Brotherhood's delegation to the UN not considering gays to be 'real people'.

More from Gay Star News:

Neighbors have broken into a gym and sauna in Egypt and ‘destroyed it’ after a police raid against gay sex, according to unconfirmed reports GSN has received. Some reports are suggesting the 14 [arrested men] were paraded to the police station either naked or only partly clothed after the raid on Friday (11 October). A prosecutor ordered they should be held for ‘forensic reports’. Again unconfirmed reports suggest this may include ‘anal probe’ tests to examine if they have engaged in gay anal sex. These tests, often used in the Middle East and North Africa have been discredited as scientifically meaningless and are considered a form of torture by international human rights bodies. The men who may undergo this range in age from just 18 to 57. Egyptian media and GSN reported the number of arrests at 14 but it has now emerged that may just be the number of ‘clients’ rounded up in the raid. Workers and the ‘health club’ manager have also apparently been detained.

More about the venue from Buzzfeed:

“Information had been received about the center’s illegal activity, and that it welcomed perverted men and boys to practice immorality in its rooms. The investigation has proved the information correct; the center was raided, and 14 men were caught, in positions that are against religious precepts,” reported the State-run Akhbar el-Youm newspaper. “Also, the management staff were caught along with a large quantity of pills and sexual stimulants. It emerged that the center only engages in this illegal activity in return for payments of between 50 and 200 pounds [$7–$28] for one encounter.”

Renowned activist Scott Long writes on his blog:

“I have at least one friend who has visited. It was a small gym and sauna, converted from a private apartment and operating as a business for years. It’s well known in the surrounding streets; when my friend went there about three years ago — before the Revolution — and asked directions, the neighbors said ‘Oh, the hammam’, or baths, and pointed the way. The entry fee was 25 pounds back then. It’s unlikely the price has gone up eightfold in the interim, so the figures the police gave (with the strong suggestion of prostitution) are probably nonsense. There is a good chance that the ‘pills and sexual stimulants’ the police found are vitamins, or even steroids.”

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