NAN – Gambian authorities have arrested three men accused of committing homosexual acts, which are punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under a law signed in October, state television said on Tuesday.
According to the report, the arrest followed a security operation and the men have confessed that they are gay.
However, their nationalities were not named.
“We go around in search of suspected individuals and in the course of the investigations we arrested the men.
“They have confessed that they have engaged in these inhuman acts,’’ the broadcast said, showing the men whose faces were covered.
Gambia and President Yahya Jammeh face global condemnation over the country’s human rights record in part because of the law, which introduced “aggravated homosexuality’’ as a crime punishable in some cases with life in prison.
The European Union said it has withdrawn millions of Euros of funding from Gambia, an announcement that came as the mainly Muslim West African nation looked more to the Middle East for support.
During the broadcast about the arrests, the country’s National Intelligence Agency appealed to the public, especially parents and landlords, to help them stamp out homosexuality.
