An Egyptian court Monday acquitted 26 men accused of "debauchery" after their night-time arrest from a Cairo bathhouse for suspected homosexual activity, in a case which triggered international concern.
The men were arrested on December 7 in the raid on a hamam in the Azbakeya district of the capital, amid fears of a widening police crackdown on gays in Egypt.
The raid was filmed by a female television journalist, who days later aired its footage on the "The Hidden," a weekly program shown on pro-regime private satellite channel Al-Qahira Wel Nas.
The footage showed the near naked men, covering their faces and wearing only towels, dragged out of the hammam and loaded onto police trucks.
"Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest), Long live justice," chanted the defendants when the verdict was announced, an AFP correspondent reported from the court room.
"Long live justice and the police," cheered the jubilant families of the defendants, some of who clashed with reporters and photographers before the hearing began.
The defendants, including the bathhouse owner and four employees, were brought handcuffed to the court room and made to stand in a metal cage guarded by two rifle-wielding policemen.
"The ruling proved our innocence and cleared the name of the hammam. I swear we did nothing wrong," said Fathy Abdel Rahman, owner of the bathhouse.