CAIRO, Jan 19 (Aswat Masriya) – On Tuesday, a Cairo misdemeanor appeals court reversed a six-month prison sentence previously handed down to an Egyptian journalist who had reported “a gay bathhouse orgy” to the police in late 2014.
The court acquitted journalist Mona Iraqi of charges of defamation and “publishing false information” in the case known in Egyptian media as the “bab al-bahr bathhouse” case.
Iraqi sparked controversy when she filmed a police raid on a men’s bathhouse after she tipped off police about the "practice of homosexuality" inside.
In the wake of Iraqi’s show, the prosecution arrested 26 persons. The owner and four other persons were accused of running an establishment to "practice, facilitate and incite debauchery." The 21 other men were accused of "debauchery" and “violating public decency”. All were acquitted in January 2015.
Their trial was condemned by domestic and international civil society organizations. Human Rights Watch was among the organizations that had called for the defendants' release. The organization condemned the Egyptian authorities' "persecution" of men "suspected of homosexual conduct" in a statement released on September 9.
Human Rights Watch condemned the physical examination the defendants were subjected to, saying it "violates international standards against torture." Men arrested for alleged homosexual behavior usually undergo anal examination.
Egyptian laws do not specifically criminalize homosexuality, but Article 9 of the 1961 Anti-Prostitution Law punishes those guilty of "inciting debauchery and immorality" by imprisonment for a period ranging from three to five years.
A version of this article was originally published in Aswat Masriya.