I am Edgar, and I'm managing this GoFundMe on behalf of Asem, who is a long time friend of mine about 12+ years, since GoFundMe is unavailable in Egypt.

This is what Asem has to say:

Hi. I'm Asem Adib from Egypt, and I'm opening this page for my younger brother, who is currently in jail pending trial.

On the 24th of January, while looking for a way to go back home from the conscription office, my younger brother got roped in with a man who changed our lives for the worse. This man promised to lead my brother to the nearest metro station from the conscription office, and instead of doing that, he lured him into a dark and secluded area, viciously beat my brother within an inch of his life, tackled him to the ground, raped him, and stole his money and ID card, all in the middle of the night with no roads or no people nearby. My brother resisted him as much as he could, until he was short of breath and bruising and aching everywhere, before being threatened with a big rock that could've killed him, in which case he felt like he had no choice but to stop resisting. My brother could have died that day, and it haunts me to think that we likely wouldn't have been able to find him if that happened.

Wanting to get justice for what happened to him, and to try to prevent this criminal from violating anyone else, we've gone to three separate police stations after each one said that the crime wasn't in their jurisdiction, or that they didn't believe my brother's story - and we've gone thrice now to the station in which he is currently jailed as well. At first, the police managed to catch the criminal, but needed to prove the rape occured by going through a forensics examination. On the day of the examination, the 31st of January, my brother unassumingly went to get examined, and found himself suddenly being arrested for "debauchery", because the criminal denied raping my brother, and instead claimed that everything that happened was consensual. My brother has gone from being the victim of a violent attack, to a perpetrator of a crime he didn't even commit.

He's been in jail for 30 days now, and instead of the company of his loving family, he's in the company of vile policemen who hurl hateful profanities and slurs at him all day, all because the criminal had access to an incompetent prosecution and systematic homophobia.

We've been naive to think we could just easily seek justice and get it. It's now reached a point where the actual crime is almost nothing compared to what has happened now. This shouldn't be a normal thing to feel.

Your donations will mostly go towards legal expenses - paying for a decent lawyer, plus any other legal fees. Some of them will go towards food, groceries and clothes to keep my brother fed and warmed, with others being for transportation expenses for the food and visits. Every donation counts, no matter how small, and your help is greatly appreciated. Here's to hoping I can get him out ASAP.