UGANDAN ACTIVISTS CHARGED

The three Ugandan activists arrested while protesting against the Ugandan government’s stance on homosexuality were charged last Friday with trespassing.

The protestors – consisting of a gay male, a lesbian and a FTM transgender – were arrested on 4 June after staging a peaceful protest at the Ugandan HIV/AIDS conference.

The three were among a group of thirteen activists held for demanding gay recognition in the fight against AIDS in Uganda. The other ten protestors were released due to lack of evidence.

The prosecutor, Emmanuel Ojambo, said the group had sneaked into the hotel holding the conference with the intention to annoy and insult the over 2,000 delegates attending the event.

The protestors claimed that they had attended the meeting with the intent to pressure Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni into accepting them as a minority group.

Susan Kanyange, the magistrate overseeing the case, released the three, ordering their sureties to each deposit a bond of one million Ugandan shillings, (approximately 620 U.S. dollars), and ordered the accused to appear before the same court on 20 June for the official hearing.

Under the Ugandan legal code, any person convicted of trespassing is subject to one year imprisonment.