Two Ugandan men have appeared in court accused of engaging in gay sex in the first case since tough anti-homosexual laws were enacted in February.
Kim Mukisa and Jackson Mukasa were brought before a magistrate in the Ugandan capital Kampala to apply for bail after prosecutors said they had enough evidence to proceed with the case.
The Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, a local watchdog group, said that Ugandan police arrested the couple in January as they fled an angry mob.They were charged with engaging in acts 'against the order of nature' under the old colonial-era laws.
However, they still face a possible life prison term under legislation which was rarely enforced until the emergence of violent anti-gay sentiment in recent years.
Homosexuality was largely an unspoken subject in Uganda before a lawmaker, saying he wanted to protect Ugandan children from wealthy Western homosexuals, introduced a bill in 2009 that originally proposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts. The legislation, widely popular in Uganda but condemned abroad as draconian, allows up to life imprisonment for homosexual acts.
It also creates the offenses of 'conspiracy to commit homosexuality' and 'aiding and abetting homosexuality' both of which are punishable by seven years behind bars. Those convicted of 'promoting homosexuality' face similar punishment. In signing the bill last month, President Museveni said he wanted to deter the West from promoting homosexuality in Africa.
The law drew international condemnation, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry likening it to anti-Semitic legislation in Nazi Germany.
Lawyers say both are expected to be later released on bail, with a date for trial to be set later.
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