18 Nigerian men facing death sentence for sodomy

A long while back I raised with David Drew the case of 18 Nigerian men charged with sodomy who could all face death by stoning.

Reports from the Nigerian news agency, NAN, say that 18 men in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi, which is governed by Islamic Sharia law, have been arrested on charges of sodomy and could be sentenced to death by stoning (this is the prescribed penalty for sodomy under Sharia law). The 18 men have been remanded in prison after they were arrested Sunday, 5 August 2007, at a private party in a hotel, where they were allegedly celebrating a "gay wedding." They were arraigned on Wednesday before Justice Taminu Abubakar of the Bauchi High Court, and will soon be sent for trial. I asked David Drew if he could act - he kindly wrote a formal question:

David Drew Hansard source: "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations on behalf of the 18 Nigerian men in the state of Bauchi charged with sodomy and who potentially face deaths by stoning."

Meg Munn Meg Munn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) Hansard source: "The charges of sodomy against the 18 Nigerian men in the state of Bauchi, Nigeria, have been replaced with charges of indecent behaviour and vagrancy, for which the death penalty would not be given. Our high commission in Abuja followed the trial closely and discussed the case with the accused men's defence counsel and local non-governmental organisations, whose view was that making representations might be counter productive now that the charges had been reduced. Consequently no representations were made but we shall continue to monitor the case."

This is clearly an issue that still needs following.