Ugandan man faces ‘aggravated homosexuality’ death penalty under grim new law

A Ugandan man is facing the death penalty after being arrested under shocking new anti-homosexuality laws.

Michael Opolot, 20, was among a crowd in Soroti waiting to witness the visit of the Ugandan president's son when police pulled in front of him and bundled him away, according to El Pais.

The law, introduced earlier this year, further criminalises same-sex conduct in Uganda and decrees people can be put to death for "aggravated homosexuality".

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Gay sex could already land you in prison for life there. Now repeat offenders, those spreading HIV or those engaging in same-sex conduct with a disabled person can be hanged.

Justine Balya, a lawyer from the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, is defending Opolot. She told VOA her client is accused of engaging in an unlawful sexual act in a public space with a 41-year-old disabled man.

Patience Muwanga, a lawyer with human rights organisation Chapter Four, is also defending Opolot. He said Opolot has been charged as the other man was allegedly "not of sound mind".

Muwanga told El Pais: "But our investigation, and what is on record, [shows] there is actually no proof that the victim is of unsound mind."

Opolot is currently being held in prison in Soroti, a city in the east of Uganda. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 14.

One family member who wanted to remain anonymous said: "I know it’s not safe to talk about his detention, but he is staring at the death penalty. We are pleading with the government to release him, because he is innocent."

Frank Baine, a spokesman for the Ugandan prison services, told El Pais: "The media should stop glorifying homosexuality because it is un-African. If he has a problem, let him face it."

Human rights groups have slammed Uganda's new measures, describing them as some of the harshest anti-LGBT laws anywhere on the planet.

As well as the death penalty for so-called "aggravated homosexuality", people can now be locked up for 20 years for the "promotion of homosexuality". There have even been reports of LGBT Ugandans going into hiding, fearing for their lives.

Opolot could be the first person executed in Uganda since 1999. The country officially scrapped the death penalty in 2005.

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