A protest is scheduled to take place outside the Nigerian Embassy tomorrow evening, Thursday, July 28 2022 at 6pm, to protest the execution of three Nigerian men found guilty of homosexuality.
The men, who were tried by an Islamic sharia court in Bauchi, Nigeria on June 30, have been sentenced to be executed by stoning – the most severe penalty applicable to the crime of homosexuality under the fundamentalist law.
The verdict was announced by the leader of the Hisbah religious police force, Adam Dan Kafi, on Friday, July 1, after all three men confessed. However, none of those convicted had any legal representation in the court that found them guilty.
Although the men have already been charged and sentenced by the sharia court, the death penalty verdict is yet to be approved by the state governor.
While same-sex relationships between men are punishable by up to 14 years under national law, 12 predominantly Muslim states in the North of the country abide by sharia courts that have more severe penalties.
LGBTQ+ activists fear that this ruling may lead to an increase in homophobia in the country which already sees a lot of hostility towards LGBTQ+ people.
The NXF fully supports this protest against such reprehensible homophobic persecution! @TomClonan @GCNmag #Nigeria #homophobia https://t.co/Nf3jrexV02
— NXF (@nxfie) July 25, 2022
According to a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, William Rashidi, director of LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Triangle said, “This sentencing opens the door for more draconian judgments against LGBTQ persons. It’s a call for violence.”
He continued, “With this judgment, the times have been rolled back. (It) affects the very essence of freedom of expression and association. People have been given some sort of rights to attack, maim and violate LGBTQ+ persons.”
The three men were given 30 days from June 30, when they were sentenced, to appeal the decision.
The demonstration, which will take place outside the Nigerian embassy on Lesson Park in Dublin at 6pm, Thursday, July 28 is calling on the Nigerian government to overturn the sharia verdict.
Please Join @derekjourno & Myself at @DublinNigeria Embassy of Nigeria, 56, Leeson Park, Ranelagh at 6pm on Thursday to Protest against Sharia Court Sentence of ‘Death by Stoning’ of 3 men for the ‘Offence’ of being Gay. They had no legal representation & faced a Kangaroo ‘Court’ https://t.co/Cs3yr3QWXu
— Dr Tom Clonan (@TomClonan) July 25, 2022
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