On 15 March, 21 defendants in the latest round of the Queen Boat trials in Egypt were sentenced to three years' imprisonment for "debauchery". The affair began when 55 men were arrested on the Queen Boat, a gay disco, in May 2001.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt but gay men are prosecuted on a variety of pretexts. Recently, Wassim Tawfiq Abayd was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment after he used the gaydar.com website to fix a meeting with a man, possibly a police informant.

Worldwide protests are planned to mark the second anniversary of the Queen Boat case, including one organised by Amnesty International in London. Details from: nora.cranston@amnesty.org.uk [1]