
Dozens Arrested at Mass Gay Wedding
More than two dozen gay Arab men face strict punishment
after being arrested at what police in the United Arab Emirates described
as a mass homosexual wedding.
They could be lashed, forced to undergo hormone treatments and jailed for
five years, an Interior Ministry official said as he announced the arrests
on Saturday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Issam Azouri said police detained 26 men
during a raid earlier in the month as the wedding ceremony was about to
begin in a hotel chalet in Dubai.
The country, which lies along the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and
Oman, has banned openly homosexual behavior.
Azouri said the men would probably be tried under Muslim law on charges
related to prostitution and adultery, the Associated Press reported.
There have been a series of similar group arrests of homosexuals over the
past few years in the United Arab Emirates.
The Interior Ministry said the latest detentions stemmed from a tip-off to
police.
The arrested men were mostly from the Emirates but one came from India and
three others were from neighboring Arab countries, Azouri said.
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