Three men were sentenced this week to death by stoning by an Islamic court in the Nigerian state of Bauchi (northeast), after being accused of homosexuality in a country where the law still persecutes this group.
After listening to several witnesses and after the confession of the accused – who did not have legal representation during the trial – the magistrate decided to impose that sentence on the three men, 20, 30 and 70 years old respectivelythe local newspaper reported today The Guardian.
The case dates from last June 14 when the religious police that ensures compliance with Sharia (Islamic law), called Hisbaharrested and brought the three men to justice by accusing them of practicing homosexuality in the village of Gwada, in the town of Ningi.
criminalization
Homosexuality is persecuted in Nigeria, it is considered a crime that entails prison terms of up to 14 years, while it may carry the death penalty by stoning in some areas of the north of the country where sharia is applied, although in practice the condemned usually end up suffering flogging.
On the other hand, same-sex marriage has been explicitly prohibited since 2014.
Some of the laws that criminalize homosexual people -men and women- were inherited from British colonial rule, and hardened with later regulations.
One of the most serious cases in recent years was the prosecution of 47 people arrested at a party in 2018, although the case was finally dismissed in 2020. (EFE)