A Ugandan man detained for almost a year under anti-homosexuality laws that have faced international criticism has been released on bail, according to a rights group representing him.
According to campaigners, Uganda’s LGBTQ community is experiencing increasing rights violations, including house evictions and torture, following the enactment of the Anti-Homos3xuality Act (AHA) by the East African country last year.
Michael Opolot, 21, was arrested on August 15 of last year. He was first accused of aggravated homosexuality in a court in Soroti, a town in northeastern Uganda, and was subsequently remanded.
Despite the charge being downgraded to a lesser offense, Opolot had been consistently denied bail.
Chapter Four Uganda, a human rights group representing him, posted on the X platform late on Tuesday: “After 350 days on remand, the Soroti Chief Magistrate’s court finally granted (Opolot) cash bail today.”
Describing the prolonged pre-trial detention as “unconscionable,” the group criticized the delay.
A Judiciary spokesperson did not promptly respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Frank Mugisha, Uganda’s leading LGBTQ rights activist, also announced the release on his X account.
This month, Convening for Equality (CFE), a coalition of LGBTQ rights organisations, reported that Opolot had been subjected to forced anal examinations during his time in detention.
A spokesperson for the prisons did not instantly respond to a Reuters phone call for comment.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) introduced the death penalty for “exacerbated homos3xuality,” which eincludes engaging in same-s3x relations with a vulnerable individual or transmitting a terminal disease such as HIV, among other offenses.
People found guilty of same-s3x intercourse receive a life sentence, the same penalty Opolot faced before his charge was downgraded to unnatural s3x, a crime under an old anti-sodomy law from the British colonial era in Uganda.
In June, a report from the coalition of rights groups revealed that over the past nine months, at least 1,000 incidents of LGBTQ rights violations had been documented.
The surge in such violations was linked to increased anti-gay hostility fueled by the new legislation.
Among the reported rights violations were arrests, torture, beatings, evictions, banishment, blackmail, and job losses.
The AHA legislation was condemned by Western countries, resulting in the U.S. imposing sanctions and travel bans, and the World Bank suspending all new lending to the country.