Posted on 02/12/2006 2:36:44 PM PST by Cornpone
Dubai - A United Arab Emirates court has jailed 12 men who were arrested after being discovered preparing for a gay wedding, but acquitted another 14 defendants, an official said on Sunday.
"Eleven men have confessed to practising homsexuality.
They were sentenced to five years in prison (for homosexuality) and one year for obscenity," said the official.
"Another man was sentenced to one year in prison for obscenity, but was acquitted of homosexuality charges... while 14 others have been released after being found not guilty," he said.
The 26 defendants, including UAE citizens, an Indian and three nationals of neighbouring Arab countries, were arrested in November when police raided a hotel in a desert resort town.
Emirates Today had reported that the Abu Dhabi court had sentenced all 26 men to five years in jail.
It said the men were busted in a hotel "dressed in women's clothes and makeup in preparation for a gay wedding".
The official said the verdict was not final and could go on appeal.
The United States state department had condemned the arrests and called on its close Gulf ally to stop reported plans for a forced hormone treatment on the suspects, which an interior ministry official then denied.
Homosexuality is a serious offence in the Muslim UAE and neighbouring conservative Gulf countries, where offenders could face flogging along with imprisonment, while foreigners could also face expulsion.
Last April, a court in neighbouring Saudi Arabia sentenced two Saudis, one Yemeni and a Jordanian to two years in jail and 2 000 lashes after a police raid on an alleged gay party.
Across the Gulf in non-Arab Iran, repeated sodomy carries the death penalty.
To the Left, gay bashing is alright as long as you aren't white or Christian.
If Hitler had never risen to national power in Germany and pure-form Nazism lingered today as a small regional party, today's liberals would be urging us to try and be more understanding of the cultural and historical context of their *differences* with the Jewish people.
I'm surprised they didn't get the death penalty. I saw a documentary on some channel (maybe discover) and they talked to Gay Muslims as well as Gay Jews. Both believe that they WILL go to HELL no matter what they do now, but they continue to live that lifestyle knowing that for eternity they will be in Hell. Mind boggling????
One of the most closely held secrets in the Mooslem world is the amount of AIDS spreading very rapidly there....very dangerous levels and not much that govts there are doing about it.
bttt
I'm sorry but that IS funny. They are so touchy feely with holding each other's hands, hugging and kissing hellow and goodbye.
It's due to their sexually repressive society where they cannot touch women until marriage or "supposedly" after they blow themselves up for the 70 virgins. Which I have heard many Muslim leaders state that is not even in their Koran. What do the female homocide bombers get (besides their family's getting money?)
Our troops are fighting for the right for people to live as they want, as long as they grant the same right to others. Or am I missing something subtle and ironic from the headline of the post?
You think consensual adult sex should be a felony punisheable by a long prison sentence?
With not enough women to go around (the wealthy get multiple wives, the lower class men get none), Muslim society starts to look very much like a prison culture
It is not only in islamic societies that this view prevailed, it makes perfect sense.
Because we have a large population that replaces itself easily, and lots of wealth, comparitively, we view such arrangements as primitive and indulgent, as we promote monogamy. Apart from the indulgences practiced by muslim men who could get away with it, polygamy probably wasn't considered primitive and indulgent for most muslims in past centuries. It was necessary for survival of individuals and the state.
In other words, you find these convictions and sentences appropriate.
What about forced hormone treatment, if the reports are correct? You're fine with that too?
No, just forms which present a public health threat
More Americans die each year by automobile accident than by any other cause. Think about what you are saying.
hmmm I wonder too about what the women get from Allah, 72 blown up men(pun intended)
do they get 72 "virgin" men?
72 lezzies?
one 72 year old male?
That is because it is hard to get laid by a woman in many Islamic countries, but is is relatively easy to find male sex partners.
It is oficially banned but it is widespread. Everyone that I know who has been there says that it's probably more common than here.
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