Young drag queens get stoned in Nigeria!
A man throws a stone at riot police called in to disperse protesters shouting abuse at men on trial for dressing as women in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, August 21, 2007. Eighteen Nigerian men accused of dressing up as women during a party at a hotel went on trial on Tuesday before an Islamic sharia court in the northern state of Bauchi. Dozens of residents shouted abuse and hurled stones at the men as they were escorted into an armoured prison vehicle after the hearing, prompting police to fire tear-gas at the crowd. (REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde)
The young drag queens in Nigeria were stoned by a mob of Muslims as they left court in Nigeria yesterday.
Nigeria News reported:
Youths arrested two weeks ago suspected to be homosexual were yesterday stoned as they were conveyed to prison from court.
The case attracted a large crowd of observers and journalists from foreign and local media, amidst heavy security provided by a joint team of the police and prison warders.
Their are rumours that they may be executed if convicted. Section 372 of the Bauchi Shari’a Penal Code Law 2001 stipulates a maximum penalty of one year prison sentence and 30 lashes on conviction.
The police described them as: “dressed in women’s fashion practising sodomy as their profession, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 372, Sub section 2(E) of Bauchi State Shari’ah Penal Code Law. suggested 2001.
“Any (male) person who dresses .. in the fashion of a woman in a public place… will be liable to a term of one year or 30 lashes” a spokesman for the local sharia police,
The presiding judge however described the charge as misleading and erroneous as the suspects were only arrested with female attires and the charges should have been “vagabonds and wearing of female attire” without the sodomy aspect of it.
The Sharia punishment for sodomy is death by stoning, but he said that was much harder to prove as four witnesses were needed.
Then the trial judge freed five of the 18 men who met bail conditions. The men all pleaded not guilty to charges of “indecent dressing” and “vagrancy” and were granted bail after they paid 20,000 Naira ($158) each.
The 18 men were arrested two weeks ago in a hotel room in Bauchi, which is governed by the Islamic Sharia legal system.
Nigerians accused of dressing as women arrive to be taken into court in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, August 21, 2007. Eighteen Nigerian men accused of dressing up as women during a party at a hotel went on trial on Tuesday before an Islamic sharia court in the northern state of Bauchi. (REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde)
A Nigerian policeman escorts a man accused of dressing as a woman to court in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, August 21, 2007. (Reuters)
Previously:
MASS RIOTING- After Drag Queens Released From Jail!
UPDATE: More HERE on the Nigerian Neighborhood Shariah Watch.
