In the first interview since his return to the UK, Manuel Guerrero Aviña, a gay British-Mexican man who was detained and convicted in Qatar, has spoken out about his imprisonment. “I never thought I’d return home safely,” he said.

According to reports, Manuel Guerrero Aviña was arrested in Qatar in February this year following an alleged police-led Grindr sting. He supposedly arranged a meeting with another man through the dating app and later found an undercover police officer waiting for him.

Guerrero Aviña was jailed for several months and during his imprisonment, he was reportedly denied access to a lawyer and forced to sign documents in Arabic without a translator. Moreover, the 44-year-old, who is said to be HIV positive, was deprived of antiretroviral medicines.

In June 2024, he was found guilty of possessing an illegal substance and received a suspended six-month prison sentence, alongside a fine of £2,100. He was also the subject of a deportation order, which led to his return to the UK earlier this month.

In his first interview since he left Qatar, the gay man recounted his 44 days in prison and subsequent detention, warning all LGBTQ+ people to “be careful when visiting Qatar”. He added, “What happened to me could happen to anyone”.

“There were so many times I was terrified,” Guerrero Aviña said. “I thought I would never be able to leave. I thought I might get lost in the system. I was really scared. I never thought I’d return home safely.”

The man also claimed that the police planted drugs in his flat in order to obtain a conviction, but that the real reason behind his arrest was his sexuality. “I absolutely deny the drugs charges,” he told BBC News.

“Throughout the entire interrogation, everything they asked me about was about my sexual partners, my sexual orientation, whether I’ve been having sex, who I have had sex with and things like that,” he said. “If it was just a drugs case, they would have been asking me about drugs.”

Same-sex relationships are illegal in Qatar and punishable by imprisonment or even death under Shariah law, with human rights groups repeatedly voicing concerns about the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the country. Guerrero Aviña had lived in Qatar for seven years without getting in trouble with authorities before he was arrested last February.

“There seemed to be an unwritten rule that whatever went on in private was OK,” he told the BBC. “I thought I was being compliant by being discreet when (in public) and following the rules – but I was just trying to live a little bit of my life behind doors. I thought it was fine as long as it wasn’t in public.”

Recounting his time in the Qatari prison, the gay man said that he witnessed people being whipped and was moved into cramped conditions for refusing to cooperate with the police by unlocking his phone and disclosing the names of other LGBTQ+ people in Qatar.

“They were trying to force me to confess and unlock my phone – but I couldn’t put other people from the gay community at risk,” he said. “Why would I put someone else through that pain?”

The BBC was also in contact with a Qatari official, who spoke about the case, saying that Guerrero Aviña had been treated with “dignity and respect throughout his detention” and sentenced “following an investigation and trial”.

“Mr Aviña and his family have made numerous false allegations in an attempt to generate public sympathy and support for his case,” the official said. “A person’s beliefs, background or orientation do not exempt them from the law, especially when facing serious charges related to drug possession.”

However, James Lynch, who was a former British diplomat in Qatar and co-director of human rights group FairSquare, said that the trial was “grossly unfair”. Lynch added, “Manuel was clearly targeted because he was LGBT and living in Qatar and living his life”.

“Over the last three years, we’ve dealt with several cases of people who’ve been arrested and then interrogated without a lawyer,” the former diplomat explained. “The Qataris need to sort out the way justice is delivered in the country.”