Two men in Uganda are facing separate charges of “aggravated homosexuality,” an offense punishable by death under the country’s controversial new anti-gay laws. A 20-year-old man in the district of Soroti in eastern Uganda was charged on August 18 after he allegedly, “performed unlawful sexual intercourse with one [man] aged 41 with a disability,” Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions told CNN. Aggravated homosexuality,” according to the much-criticized act, involves incest, sex with children, as well as people with disabilities or the elderly. The act, signed into law in May, also outlaws gay marriage in Uganda and it punishes same-sex acts with life imprisonment. It has been decades since Uganda last carried out an execution, but its longtime President Yoweri Museveni had threatened in 2018 to resume state assent for capital punishment. Attorney Justine Balya, who is representing the 20-year-old man, told CNN that the penalties associated with the law were entirely out of proportion. “Of course the fact that the law is being enforced in this way is entirely unconstitutional because it seeks to criminalize what is often consensual conduct between adults,” she said.
via cnn: Two Ugandan men may face death penalty after ‘aggravated homosexuality’ charge
siehe auch: Exclusive: First Ugandan charged with ‘aggravated homosexuality’ punishable by death. A 20-year-old man has become the first Ugandan to be charged with “aggravated homosexuality”, an offence punishable by death under the country’s recently enacted anti-gay law, prosecutors and his lawyer said. Defying pressure from Western governments and rights organisations, Uganda in May enacted one of the world’s harshest laws targeting the LGBT community. It 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. According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, the defendant was charged on Aug. 18 with aggravated homosexuality after he “performed unlawful sexual intercourse” with a 41-year-old man. It 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,” Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for the office of the director of public prosecutions, told Reuters. 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.