Case against Ugandan man charged with "aggravated homosexuality" dropped,

A Ugandan court on Monday dropped a case against the first man in the country to be charged with "aggravated homosexuality", which carries the death penalty under an anti-gay law, his lawyer told Reuters.



The East African country enacted the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023, defying pressure from Western governments as well as local and international rights groups.



Described as one of the world's harshest laws targeting the LGBT community, it carries a sentence of life in prison for same-sex intercourse and imposes the death penalty in cases deemed "aggravated".



That categorisation includes repeat offences, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities.



The then 20-year-old man from Soroti in northeastern Uganda spent nearly a year on remand after he was detained in August 2023 and charged with aggravated homosexuality, his lawyer Douglas Mawadri told Reuters on Tuesday.



The man was accused of "unlawful sexual intercourse" with a 41-year-old man.