Egyptian men arrested for ‘appearing in gay wedding video’

Nine men are to be arrested in Egypt on charges of inciting debauchery and undermining public morals because they are believed to appear in a video showing what could be the country’s first gay wedding.

The video apparently shows the men celebrating the wedding on a boat cruising down the River Nile, and was discovered by Egyptian authorities after being posted on YouTube before going viral on social media in the conservative African country.

Seven of the men are already in custody, Reuters reports, while two more are still to be arrested. Homosexuality is legal in Egypt, but gay people often face discrimination and have been known to be arrested on public decency charges.

In a statement released yesterday (September 6), the Egyptian public prosecutor’s office described the images in the video as “humiliating”, “regrettable” and liable to “anger God”. As such, they are deemed to constitute a criminal act worthy of investigation.

Police have now been ordered to conduct physical examinations on the men, who will be held in custody for four days pending a full investigation into the alleged offences.

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