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BIGGEST POLICE ENTRAPMENT YET AS SIXTY TWO ARE ARRESTED IN DOWNTOWN CIARO. Posted 16 September 2003. According to a report from "Horus" which is printed below, 62 men have been arrested by police during a surprise swoop on Qasr El Nil Bridge which lies close to Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. They now await trial in November or December. Here is his report. A new roundup of "gay" men took place in Cairo last August 28/8. This one involved 62 people and was kept very quiet. No press coverage that I know of in contrast to the publicity given to the so-called Cairo 52 case. They were all charged individually with the habitual practice of debauchery and given individual case-numbers as opposed to the group charges leveled at the Cairo 52 which treated them as a single case. According to the arrestees, the police had a paddywagon parked at either end of Qasr el-Nil bridge, which spans the Nile downtown and is a popular gay cruising area. Then a number of policemen and police assistants started converging on the center of the bridge from both end. Starting at the shore and working towards the middle of the bridge, they would ask young men for their IDs ( What for? “Just give me your ID... Now come along with me.) By the time they got to the center of the bridge, they had amassed a large number of men (and IDs). Then (according to two people who were there) each group of policemen formed a cordon around the men, and gradually herded them towards their respective waiting paddywagons on each shore. The arrestees also said that when they reached the paddywagon, as they were all standing on the sidewalk, the policemen indulged in a bit of gratuitous abuse before actually herding them in, shouting to the passers-by, "Look at these khawalat! (a slang term for gay, equivalent to faggot) The country's become full of khawalat!" After this, they were taken to Qasr el-Nile police station. All were forced to sign confessions (as usual) and then they were sent off to the prosecutor's office, which released them on the guarantee of their addresses. They were released after a total of 3 days detention. Their cases are due for hearings in November or December. Horus ****************************************** NEWS ARCHIVE:x August 2003x July 2003x June 2003x May 2003x April 2003x March 2003x February 2003x January 2003x December 2002x November 2002x October 2002x September 2002x August 2002x June 2002x May 2002x April 2002x March 2002x February 2002x January 2002x December 2001xorx Previous Months. EGYPT'S COPTIC POPE SUPPORTS ANTI-GAY WITCH HUNT. Posted 12 September 2003. Egypt's aging coptic Pope, Shenoudah III, came out last week in support of the Government's anti-gay witch-hunt. He was trying to instill hatred into the hearts of the 10 million coptic christians in Egypt. But his hate inspired sermon, though disturbing, is hardly surprising. Feeling vulnerable to attacks from islamist zealots, Egypt's christian leaders have often outdone them in denouncing any liberal vision of life which deviates even a doctrinal milimetre from orthodox teaching. Now Egypt's Pope has called for an intensification of the campaign to "purge" Egypt and the world of gays. But most Egyptians have had enough of the corruption and greed of both their Islamic and Christian leaders. While many among christian congregations are close to starvation their priests are invariably obese, and suck money from the more superstitious - selling every type of service from blessings to ritual animal sacrifice ( guess who gets to keep most of the animal ! ) to ensure they continue to get wealthier and wealthier at the expense of others. At the same time rumours of sex scandals and paedophile abuses scar the Coptic Church even though they rarely surface into print due to the rigorous censorship controls exerted by the Government. No doubt this new proclamation by Egypt's pope is just another scheme to divert attention from the corruption and greed of the church itself. Below follows an article posted on the website Planet Out on 9 September. Egypt's religious leader has committed himself to fighting the "plague" of gay visibility. Additionally, Pope Shenouda III, of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has called for other leaders of different religions to help in his campaign. The church has over 10 million members worldwide, although the majority are in Egypt. The pope is viewed as a successor of St. Mark, the evangelist who brought Christianity to Egypt during the first century, according to the religion's official encyclopedia. In an interview with the Middle East News Agency, Shenouda said he will be hosting a summit to discuss ways on how to fight the growing visibility of gay men and women across the world. He added that he supports all those who are against gay marriage and the appointment of gay clergy, which defies "the teachings of the holy book and threaten(s) the stability of marriage, the family and social morality." The pope said he is currently looking to contact the World Council of Churches, the Middle East Council of Churches and councils in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. NEWS ARCHIVE:x August 2003x July 2003x June 2003x May 2003x April 2003x March 2003x February 2003x January 2003x December 2002x November 2002x October 2002x September 2002x August 2002x June 2002x May 2002x April 2002x March 2002x February 2002x January 2002x December 2001xorx Previous Months. |
