#Senegal : Three men have been arrested and brought before a Senegalese court after a young foreigner was violently attacked last week by a mob who hurled homophobic insults at him, a police source said on Monday.
According to the Senegalese news site Seneweb, the victim is an American musician who «because of his style, his dress» been «wrongly accused of being a homosexual by ill-intentioned individuals». He had come to Dakar with a friend and colleagues for the Biennale, an ongoing African contemporary art event in the capital, says Seneweb.
The victim and those with him were stripped of their cell phones and personal belongings, according to the site.
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A police source interviewed by AFP did not comment on the nature of the attack. But she said that «three individuals (had) been arrested by the police of the HLM district and referred to the prosecution for endangering the lives of others and violence». She requested anonymity, noting the «sensitivity of this case».
«The victim is safe and sound, she has returned to her home», did she say. She added that the victim’s country of origin insisted on «confidentiality» of the case.
Asked by AFP, the American embassy in Senegal did not speak.
The assault came amid controversy in Senegal and France around Paris Saint-Germain soccer player and Senegalese international Idrissa Gana Gueye, accused of refusing to join the fight against homophobia by wearing a jersey rainbow during a match in France.
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Alexandre Marcel, president of the Idaho France committee, an association helping persecuted members of the LGBTI community, particularly in Africa, urged Monday for the protection of homosexuals in Senegal.
«When you are LGBTI today in Senegal you are in danger because the people want to do justice themselves. LGBTI are fleeing and not a day goes by without us receiving a call for help or relief from Senegal»he told AFP.
In this 95% Muslim and very practicing country, homosexuality is widely considered deviant. Senegalese law punishes there with a prison term of one to five years the so-called acts «against nature with an individual of his sex».
Homosexuality is also willingly decried as an instrument used by Westerners to impose values totally foreign to Senegalese culture and traditions.