The Qasr Al-Nil Court postponed on Tuesday the same-sex marriage video trial to 27 September, according to state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram.
It is the first trial session for the controversial case since Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat ordered the defendants to be sent to court for charges of “violating the teachings of religion and public morals”.
The men, who featured in a video showing two males celebrating their marriage on a boat, are accused of “inciting debauchery”. The prosecution described the celebration as “a devilish shameless party”.
The defendants, suspected of being homosexuals, were ordered by the prosecution to undergo medical tests to ensure they are “habitual” homosexuals.
However, Hisham Abdel Hamid, spokesman of the forensic department said that, based on the results of medical tests, the nine men suspected of participating in an alleged party are “not homosexuals”.
On 9 September Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for the release of the detained men describing the arrests as “an assault on fundamental human rights,” and the medical tests involving anal examination as a violation to “international standards against torture”.
Egyptian law does not directly forbid homosexuality, but crackdowns have taken place citing charges of debauchery.
Last April, an Egyptian court sentenced four men to up to eight years in prison for practicing debauchery.
