Egyptian men cleared of gay bathhouse 'debauchery'

An Egyptian court has acquitted 26 men arrested in a televised raid last month by police looking for gays at a Cairo public bathhouse.

The ruling on Monday that set off cheers inside the courtroom as some of the defendants uncovered their faces and cried with relief.

The trial, which had caused an uproar among activists and rights groups, captured public attention after a pro-government TV network aired scenes of half-naked men being pulled from the bathhouse by police.

Same-sex relations are not explicitly prohibited in Egyptian law but homosexuality is a social taboo in the conservative, Muslim-majority country.

The men in the bathhouse raid faced various charges, including debauchery and performing indecent public acts. Monday's verdict came after only three hearings, during which families quarrelled with journalists who tried to photograph their relatives in the dock.

They destroyed our lives. God rescued us. - defendant after verdict.

The courtroom erupted into a frenzy after the word "acquittal" was heard from the judge and women ululated. "They destroyed our lives. God rescued us," said one of the defendants, who did not give his name to protect his privacy.

Rights activists say 2014 was the worst year in a decade for Egypt's gay community, with at least 150 men arrested or put on trial.

The trial opened only two weeks after the December 7 raid on the bathhouse and usually quick referral by the general prosecutor.

There are no laws in Egypt criminalising homosexuality but a decades' old law criminalising prostitution is often used in penalising the gay community.

Five of the defendants in Monday's trial - the owner of the bathhouse and four staff members - were tried for facilitating debauchery in exchange for money.

In the official charges, the prosecutor said the investigation revealed the owner and the staff ran the bathhouse as a place for "parties of debauchery, orgies among male homosexuals in exchange for money".

The rest of the defendants were charged with debauchery and "indecent public acts".