Overview
- French diplomatic sources, who confirmed Friday that the man remains in custody, said consular staff have visited him four times and are in touch with his family.
- The French national, described as an engineer living in Dakar, was arrested on February 14 for alleged acts against nature, criminal conspiracy, money laundering, and attempted transmission of HIV.
- Senegal’s parliament toughened penalties in early March to five to ten years in prison for same-sex relations, and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye promulgated the law on March 31.
- Local enforcement has intensified with a series of arrests for alleged homosexuality, including a six-year sentence in April for a young Senegalese man reported by local media.
- UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the law as trampling rights, and France voiced concern and reiterated its support for universal decriminalization of homosexuality.