TWO MEN CHARGED WITH ‘AGGRAVATED HOMOSEXUALITY’ IN UGANDA, FACE DEATH PENALTY
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Two Ugandan men – 20-year-old and a 41-year-old – have reportedly become the first Ugandan to be charged with “aggravated homosexuality” – an offence punishable by death under the country’s recently enacted anti-gay law.
The report states that the defendants were charged on August 18 with aggravated homosexuality after they “performed unlawful sexual intercourse” with each other. The charge sheet did not specify why the act was considered aggravated.
“Since it is a capital offence triable by the High Court, the charge was read out and explained to him in the Magistrate’s Court on [the] 18th and he was remanded,” said Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for the office of the director of public prosecutions.
Okui did not provide additional details about the case. She said she was not aware of anyone else having been previously charged with aggravated homosexuality.
Uganda in May enacted this law, defying pressure from Western governments and rights organisations .
The law prescribes life in prison for same-sex intercourse. The death penalty can apply in cases deemed “aggravated”, which include repeat offences, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities.
Uganda has not executed anyone in about 20 years, but capital punishment has not been abolished and President Yoweri Museveni threatened in 2018 to resume executions to stop a wave of crime.
The law’s enactment three months ago drew widespread condemnation and threats of sanctions. Earlier this month, the World Bank suspended new public financing to Uganda in response to the law but the African country remain unshakable.
Homosexuality is criminalised in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries.
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