Africans jailed for gay sex

Two Cameroonians were jailed yesterday after admitting to having gay sex.

A court in Cameroon, where homosexuality is illegal, jailed the men for a year. One of the men said he had been tricked into the act on a false promise that he would be taken to Europe.

The country’s tabloid newspapers sold out last month after publishing lists and photos of allegedly gay public figures in what their editors justified as a crusade against “deviant behaviour”.

Publishers of two of the newspapers are currently standing trial for defamation after they named senior members of President Paul Biya’s administration in the lists.

Same sex relationships are banned in many African countries. It is seen as a curse in some traditional beliefs.