News
2005-08-04
Nigerian men face
death by stoning for having gay sex
An Islamic court
in Nigeria granted bail on Wednesday to two men accused
of having gay sex, considered illegal in Nigeria. The men,
An Islamic court
in Nigeria granted bail on Wednesday to two men accused
of having gay sex, considered illegal in Nigeria. The men,
whose case has once more drawn international attention
to their country's human rights record, face the
death penalty, according to Agence France-Presse.
Judge Mustapha
Sani Saulawa of the Upper Sharia Court in the northern
city of Katsina allowed the defendants, 40-year-old Yusuf
Kabir and 18-year-old Usman Sani, to go free until the
next hearing on August 24. The pair were arrested by
police in June after witnesses alleged that they had
been having sex in a public toilet. Sodomy is punishable by
stoning to death under northern Nigeria's interpretation of
Islamic Sharia law. "The prosecution has not brought
its witnesses before this court today; I therefore
grant bail to you both on the condition that each of
you bring adults to stand as sureties," Saulawa told the
court.
The case has
attracted the attention of gay rights lobbyists in France,
Democratic lawmakers in the United States, and a senior
United Nations envoy, all of whom have called for
Nigeria to show tolerance toward gays.
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