Hard labour for being gay

2008-01-16 20:08

Yaounde - A Cameroonian court has sentenced three men accused of being homosexuals to six months hard labour, their attorney Alice Nkom said on Wednesday.

Lazare Baeeg, Emmanuel Balep and Tony Dikongue were arrested last August and have already spent nearly six months in detention at a prison in Douala, Cameroon's port city.

Under Cameroon's penal code, homosexuality is a crime carrying a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to 200 000 African francs ($450). Several countries in Africa, notably Nigeria, treat homosexuality as a punishable crime.

Following the Douala high court's decision, their defence attorney Nkom said she was filing an appeal.

"None of these people were caught in homosexual acts, so the court cannot condemn them for something they never did," she argued.

She said they "have already suffered innocently so they need to be released, since they have already spent nearly six months in prison cells without trial".

- SAPA