Senegal jails gays for 8 years
2009-01-07 21:10
Dakar - Nine gay men were each jailed for eight years by a court in Senegal, the highest such sentence in a country where homosexuality is outlawed, their lawyer and gay rights groups said on Wednesday.
The nine, all aged under 30, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with "indecent conduct and unnatural acts and membership of a criminal organisation".
They were arrested in December in the Dakar suburb of Mbao.
"This is the first time that the Senegalese legal system hands down such a harsh sentence against gays," said Issa Diop, one of four defence lawyers representing the men.
Joel Nana, of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told AFP: "We are in shock."
"This is the first case that I have heard of where someone is sentenced to eight years in jail for homosexuality," said Nana.
Homosexual acts are punishable with a maximum sentence of five years in Senegal, where 95% of the population is Muslim.
However, the judge in the case raised the sentence to eight years after taking into account their "membership of a criminal organisation".
Most of the men were members of an association set up to fight HIV/AIDS.
- AFP