Swinging in Egypt

An Egyptian man and his wife convicted of setting up a swinger's club and organizing orgies and wife swaps were sentenced to long prison sentences yesterday.

Tolba Abdel Hafez and his wife Salwa Higazi were sentenced to seven years and three years respectively by the Agouza Criminal Court Saturday. The couple will be on probation after their release for the same time period.

In sentencing the pair, the judge described the case as one of the worst crimes committed in the name of humanity, adding that the crime was unique for its perversity and went beyond the taboos of extra-marital sex.

The Cairo couple, who have children, were arrested in October 2008 on prostitution charges and confessed to having sexual relations with three other couples.

The couple used pseudonyms in emails to organize wife-swapping parties and orgies and managed to get 44 couples signed up for Cairo swinging sessions via the website.

Egyptian police have arrested a married couple who advertised on Facebook to sexually swap spouses and to host orgies at their Cairo apartment.

The case had been referred to prosecutors, an official said, adding that their Facebook posting had been titled Wife-swapping .

Extra-marital sex is frowned upon in Egypt, although couples go ahead with it after obtaining informal marriages, but this could lead to prostitution charges.

A Giza Misdemeanors Court sentenced a married couple accused of swinging to 7 years in jail for the husband and three years for the wife and at the same time ordered them to remain under surveillance when they are released, state media reported.

The couple was arrested a year ago and were accused of trading spouses with other couples. Unfortunately for them, the country meanwhile took a big step towards religious extremism and sharia law.

The public prosecutor accused them of prostitution and creating an indecent website to facilitate their sex trade. They were accused of sexual trading with three other couples. However the court found that the sexual activities were perfectky consensual.

A report quoted the husband, identified as Hossam Kamel, said the idea came to him when he saw a similar website in a Gulf country and decided to bring the idea to Egypt.