An Egyptian film star, Amr Waked, is speaking out against the recent jailing of people living with HIV/AIDS in his country, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo News reports (news.yahoo.com, 4/26).

“It’s insane that this happens in our country!” said Waked. “The deliberate confusion [around HIV/AIDS] must stop—stigmatization does not help the fight against AIDS.”

On April 9, an Egyptian court sentenced five men—four of whom are HIV positive—to three years of jail time for “the habitual practice of debauchery,” a charge that human rights groups say is used to describe homosexual sex. In what is being called a “crackdown” against HIV-positive Egyptians, authorities in the country have allegedly detained a total of 12 men since October 2007.