CAIRO: On Saturday Al-Agouza Misdemeanors Court sentenced a couple charged with spouse swapping to seven years for the husband and three for the wife. The court also stated in its verdict that the couple will be placed under court surveillance for at least one year after they complete their jail term. Husband Tolba Abdel Hafez, 48, and his wife Salwa Higazi, a 37-year-old schoolteacher who have children, used the pseudonyms Magdy and Samira on a website and in emails to organize wife-swapping parties and orgies. They were arrested last October on charges of prostitution, spreading debauchery and publicizing it on the internet. They confessed to having sexual relations with three other couples, although at least 44 couples signed up for Cairo swinging sessions via the website. Mohamed Gebril, head of Al-Agouza Misdemeanors Court, said that the verdict matched the ugliness of the crime committed. "They also confessed to having committed those crimes during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr feast just for fun to break the boredom, he told the state-run Al-Ahram daily. Gebril further described the two as "human devils, and that they received the maximum sentence for such crimes and in accordance with to Law No. 4 of the penal code. Commenting on the verdict, Gamal Eid, executive director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said that "although we [human rights activists]disagree with the soliciting practiced by the couple and with their activities on the internet . we still think that there is a big difference between crimes against traditions and culture and illegal activities. "In this case, the couple did break the law as there was no money exchanged for those sexual acts and no one was forced to engage in them against his will. Other human rights organization in Egypt refused to comment on this highly unusual case.
