Egypt Tells EU to Butt Out on Gay Trials
365Gay.com,
April 19, 2003
By Jon ben Asher, European Bureau Chief
Cairo�The Speaker of Egypt�s parliament has unleashed
a verbal attack on the European Union for passing a resolution accusing the
Egyptian government of persecuting gays.
Ahmed Fathi Sorour called the EU resolution
�unwarranted meddling�. The letter was released publicly as a Cairo court
sentenced more than a dozen men to prison for �debauchery� a term the
Egyptian government uses to describe gay sex. The sentences were the latest in
a series of high profile gay arrests and prison sentences.
In March a criminal court sentenced 21 men to three years
in jail last month on charges of practicing debauchery. They were arrested in
a May 2001 police raid on a Nile boat restaurant on suspicion they had taken
part in a gay sex party.
Human rights groups and Western diplomats have condemned
Egypt�s harsh treatment of homosexuality.
�No one has the right to give lessons to the other,�
Sorour wrote in the letter to Pat Cox, president of the European Union
assembly.
Sorour accused the EU of �oversimplifying dangerous
issues.�
Other cultures must �respect the right of the people
(Egyptians) to choose freely their legal system, and to protect their
religious and cultural values,� he wrote.
Earlier this week US congressman Barney Frank (D Mass)
accused the Egyptian ambassador of lying in statements made by Nabil Fahmy
that gays were not persecuted in Egypt.
�Based on the recent convictions and the continued
arrests of gay men in Egypt . . .I can come to no other conclusion than that
you lied to me,� Frank�s letter said.
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