MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) — Eight men have been sentenced to three years in prison in Egypt, charged with 'spreading indecent images' through a video which allegedly shows the country's first gay wedding.
"The sentence was met with uproar from the families of the defendants, who demonstrated outside the courthouse in downtown Cairo and were cleared by police. The defendants, who had denied the charges, stood silent in the court room cage as the verdict was read, one of them holding up a copy of the Koran," Reuters reported.
Gay marriage is illegal in Egypt, although homosexuality "is not specifically outlawed", the media outlet emphasizes. However, according to human rights observers, homosexuals are complaining of being persecuted in the country, being typically accused of such crimes as debauchery, immorality or blasphemy.
Emad Sobhi, the lawyer of the defense, underscores that his clients were "innocent of practicing homosexuality": "My clients are innocent of practicing homosexuality. The court succumbed to public opinion," he said, as quoted by Agence France-Presse.
The video, published on YouTube in September, shows two men exchanging rings during what appears to be a gay wedding party on a Nile boat. Egypt's chief prosecutor has denounced the video as "offensive to public morals" and "shameful to God", the Associated Press reports.
The media outlet notes that the verdict announced on Saturday, November 1, has become one more episode in a string of crackdown policies directed against gays and atheists in Egypt. The government's campaign has been also launched against "pro-democracy activists and violators of a draconian law on street protests."
It is worth mentioning that in April 2014, a court sentenced four Egyptian men charged with "practicing homosexuality" to imprisonment: three were sentenced eight years behind bars, whilst the fourth received three years.
