The Gaborone high court on Tuesday ruled sections of Botswana’s Penal Code, which criminalise same-sex sexual conduct, unconstitutional.
Botswana’s high court, in a highly anticipated verdict, on Tuesday ruled to decriminalise homosexuality, which was outlawed under the country’s 1965 penal code.
According to Christian Science Monitor correspondent Ryan Lenora Brown, who was at the court on Tuesday, judge Michael Leburu said that it was “not in the public interest” to criminalise same sex sexual conduct. “What compelling public interest is there necessitating such a law? There is no victim.”In March, the court postponed a ruling on the issue after an unnamed applicant challenged two sections of the penal code under which offenders face a jail sentence of up to seven years.
Activists launched the legal battle after the Home Affairs ministry rejected an application to register LEGABIBO. “So we just want to be free to access these services. I think it will be a great disappointment if we lose this,” he said.Last month, Kenya’s High Court refused to repeal laws criminalising homosexuality despite activists’ hopes that it would follow the example of some African countries like Angola, or those further afield like India, and end decades-old laws which criminalise gay sex.
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