Skip to main content

Lagos Court Throws Out Homosexuality Charge Against James Brown, 46 Other Men

A judge in Lagos has thrown out the homosexuality charge preferred against 47 men including Internet sensation, James Brown, due to lack of diligent prosecution.

Nigeria’s laws ban homosexuality and it is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The men were charged with public displays of affection with members of same-sex.

Reuters


However, the decision of the court has ended what had widely been seen as a test of the country’s laws banning homosexual relationships.

The men were arrested in a police raid on a Lagos hotel in Egbeda in 2018.

Police said the men were being initiated into a gay club but the defendants said they were attending a birthday party.

Prosecution and defence lawyers in the case had told Reuters that nobody had yet been convicted under the law, which led to the case of the men being widely seen as a test case that could help to establish the burden of proof.

Prosecutors failed to attend Tuesday’s hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos, having previously failed to present some of their witnesses in a case that had been adjourned on several occasions.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa struck out the case and said he had done so due to the “lack of diligent prosecution”.

Outside the court, many of the men smiled and cheered including James Brown, who said, “I am free. It means a lot of good things.”

Under Nigerian law, defendants in a case that is struck out can be rearrested and arraigned again on the same charge, whereas that is not possible in cases that have been dismissed.

Taxi driver, Onyeka Oguaghamba, a father-of-four, who said he merely drove people to the party, said he was happy the case had been struck out but disappointed that it was not dismissed entirely.

Legal

Sex

News

AddThis

: 

Original Author

: 

SaharaReporters, New York

Disable advertisements

: 

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS



from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/37LZgJj
via EDUPEDIA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

These funny food quotes will make you laugh like crazy

Food is not only an essential part of the daily routine but also the most exciting one. We cannot imagine our life without something yummy. How do you make ordinary eating fun and unforgettable? We bring to your attention amazing food quotes which will definitely make you smile. Image: unsplash.com (modified by author) Source: UGC Are you looking for interesting ideas to entertain your interlocutor while having lunch at work or family dinner? Then this article is definitely for you! Good food quotes Below are food quotes, aphorisms and witty statements. This is an exciting and extraordinary collection of the top "pearls of wisdom" on this topic. Here you can find funny jokes and sayings, intelligent thoughts of philosophers and original words of great thinkers and inspiring statuses from social networks, as well as many other things. The best appetite comes without food. I love calories. They are dаmn tasty. An empty stomach is the Devil's playground. Have bre
Post a Comment
Read more

The Transitional Phase of African Poetry

The Transitional Phase The second phase, which we have chosen to call transitional, is represented by the poetry of writers like Abioseh Nicol, Gabriel Okara, Kwesi Brew, Dennis Brutus, Lenrie Peters and Joseph Kariuki. This is poetry which is written by people we normally refer to as modem and who may be thought of as belonging to the third phase. The characteristics of this poetry are its competent and articulate use of the received European language, its unforced grasp of Africa’s physical, cultural and socio-political environment and often its lyricism. To distinguish this type of poetry we have to refer back to the concept of appropriation we introduced earlier. At the simplest and basic level, the cultural mandate of possessing a people’s piece of the earth involves a mental and emotional homecoming within the physical environment. Poems like Brew’s ‘‘Dry season”, Okara’s “Call of the River Nun”, Nicol’s “The meaning of Africa” and Soyinka’s “Season”, to give a few examples,
Post a Comment
Read more

The pioneering phase of African Poetry

The pioneering phase We have called the first phase that of the pioneers. But since the phrase “pioneer poets” has often been used of writers of English expression like Osadebay, Casely-Hayford and Dei-Anag, we should point out that our “pioneer phase” also includes Negritude poets of French expression. The poetry of this phase is that of writers in “exile” keenly aware of being colonials, whose identity was under siege. It is a poetry of protest against exploitation and racial discrimination, of agitation for political independence, of nostalgic evocation of Africa’s past and visions of her future. However, although these were themes common to poets of both English and French expression, the obvious differences between the Francophone poets and the Anglophone writers of the 1930s and 1940s have been generally noted. Because of the intensity with which they felt their physical exile from Africa, coupled with their exposure to the experimental contemporary modes of writing in F
Post a Comment
Read more