A new trial opened on Saturday for fifty Egyptians facing charges related to gay sex but none of the defendants were present and the judge adjourned proceedings until September.
Hassan al-Sayess, the presiding judge at the Abdine criminal court in central Cairo, set a new hearing for September 7 to "allow the defense to complete its file."
The judge opened the hearing by reading the names of the 50 defendants, none of whom was present in the courtroom, according to AFP. The state security court last November sentenced 23 of the men to prison, mostly for one to two years, on charges related to practicing homosexuality and acquitted 29 others.
President Hosni Mubarak, empowered to cancel judgements and grant amnesties, ordered their retrial in May, saying the case did not fall under the jurisdiction of the state security court. However, he upheld jail terms of the two leading defendants, Sherif Farahat and Mahmud Ahmed Allam, to five and three years respectively after they were accused of "scorning religion." In addition, Farahat was charged with "sexual practices contrary to Islam." (Albawaba.com)
