An appeals court has upheld the convictions of six Moroccan men who prosecutors had claimed took part in a gay wedding, and a court in Cameroon has sentenced three men accused of being homosexuals to six months hard labour. After a video of what authorities claimed was a man in a dress dancing at the wedding appeared on the internet, people in the northern Moroccan town of Ksar el Kebir identified the six for police. When the video and arrests became public in the Moroccan media, Moslem faithful demonstrated in the streets demanding harsh sentences. Homosexuality in Morocco is punishable with prison terms ranging up to three years. All six pleaded not guilty at their trial. Western human rights groups who monitored the proceeding said they were convicted on flimsy evidence. It also was not determined if any of the men were gay or transgendered. The man said to have been the organizer was convicted of homosexuality and serving liquor illegally. He was sentenced to 10 months. The others received six month sentences. The appeals court examined the evidence and upheld the convictions but reduced the sentences for five of the six. The alleged organizer's sentence was held but sentences for the five purported partiers were reduced to four months but could be released earlier. Amnesty International called the convictions a travesty and called for the immediate release of all six. The group also said it was concerned about the personal safety of the men after they are freed. Meanwhile, in the central African state of Cameroon, 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 (NZ$585). 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 act, so the court cannot condemn them for something they never did." She said these people "have already suffered innocently so they need to be released, since they have already spent nearly six months in prison cells without trial." Several countries in Africa, notably Nigeria, treat homosexuality as a punishable crime.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 17th January 2008 - 8:02am