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.
No one has to drive and no one has to have sex. Having an accident while driving has a probability associated with it. Getting infected while sexing has a probability associated with it. You focus on sexing. I focus on driving. You worry about what people do in their beds while I worry about people do in their cars.
Repeated bad driving doesn't lead to the development of new strains of antibiotic-resistant bad drivers who can infect and quite possibly kill unknowing good drivers.
Very good, although we were originally speaking of crimes, not anitbodies. So...think about what you are saying in the context of all human contact, not just sex. In the name of public health, you are making an argument for the regulation and criminalization of all interactions that might spread disease.
They put them in prison? What the? If they are good citizens and this is the only thing that put them in prison, that is horrible and heartbreaking, IMO. Gotta think there are some really dangerous people running free over there that should be taking up tenancy in those cells instead. Whoa.
Interesting. I did not know that.
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.
And as usual, State is choosing the wrong position.
And end up with something feeble:
And the same principle under which we can forcibly commit and medicate TB patients.
So, are you saying that these arrests of homosexuals and forced hormone treatment are like the commitment and medication of TB? The State Department is stupidly advocating something against public health? If so, then that’s the end of the conservation.
Libertarian at Home, Authoritarian Abroad? Is that the new party motto?
I was speaking of the conversation, not conservatism. But now we have gone from defending the arrest and forced hormone treatment of oddly behaving men, to the equation of such things with the commitment and forced treatment of TB carriers, now to a Buchanan-like rant about Wilsonian foreign policy. You are all over the place. So let’s agree to retreat from Iraq, shall we?
So unprotected sex should be a felony?
Enough then. You are young here on FR. I am old. I think you should ponder your position on the matter. That's all. Good luck.
I suppose you should say, sex outside of absolutely monogamous marriage (forever) should be a felony.
No, I agree it's an insane idea, just one of several reasons why I have no idea what you're talking about.
Thanks for the source Cornpone.
I am well aware of mooslem attitudes about love and marriage and women because I have known so many over the years.
I have sat across from a mooslem Yemeni woman at a wedding reception and listened to her tell me that she cannot leave her horribly abusive husband because to do so would mean she would never see her children again and she would probably end up disappeared.
This is in the US. This is one of the less troubling stories.
It may be hard to do it with a Mooslem....but it's done all the time: rape. Especially the rape of non mooslem females.
Perhaps something will be sewn shut. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
(snort) I guess there're a lot of middle-aged widows that these fellows are willing to marry and support. yeah. right. This is a culture that marries off little girls--Anwar Sadat's 12-yr-old daughter, for one.
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