Dozens arrested, paraded naked in bathhouse raid

Between 40 and 50 men were arrested at a bath house in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday night on suspicion of “perversion.”

According to reports, the raid took place at 10pm in the city’s Ramsis area. The men were taken outside in the nude, before being loaded onto trucks. Some were allegedly beaten during the incident.

It’s believed that the police and Central Security forces conducted the raid and that they were tipped off by well-known television journalist Mona Iraqi.

Iraqi posted photos of the incident on her Facebook page and boasted about taking part in the investigation and raid on the venue, which she described as a den of “abnormalities” and “collective perversion” in the heart of Cairo.

She claimed that the men were “caught in the act during a group sex party.” Iraqi explained that the scheduled broadcast of her television expose on the bathhouse was delayed to allow the authorities to first take action.

Some commentators slammed her for a lack of ethics and accused her of being complicit in destroying people’s lives for the sake of ratings.

Erasing 76 Crimes stated that with the latest arrests, “Egypt now holds the dubious record for the country with the largest number of reported arrests for homosexuality in such a short time, in a single country in recent times.”

In October, 14 men were arrested on a raid on another sauna in Cairo. Six other men were sentenced to two years in prison with labour on charges of “committing debauchery” after they were accused of promoting an apartment on Facebook as a location for gay sex.

Last month, eight men who appeared in an apparent gay wedding video were sentenced to three years in jail.

The Egyptian authorities are believed to be using social media, including dating apps, to track down and arrest gay men. Gay hook-up app Grindr has now taken to warning its Egyptian users to exercise caution when setting up dates.