HARARE – A Zimbabwean gay rights activist was found not guilty of pornography charges after a police raid in May on his group’s offices, his lawyer said yesterday..
The trial came as President Robert Mugabe has renewed his fiery tirades against including gay rights in Zimbabwe’s new constitution, last week calling same-sex marriages ‘dog behaviour’.
Ignatius Muhambi, an accountant for Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe was arrested together with office administrator Ellen Chademana during the raid.’He was found not guilty,’ Muhambi’s lawyer Jeremiah Bamu told AFP.’The prosecution failed to establish a case against him at the close of their submissions on Friday and the magistrate acquitted him.’Prosecutors said police found in the offices a DVD showing men having sex. Initially the pair was also accused of insulting Mugabe, but that charge was never formally filed.Chademana was expected to appear in court separately yesterday.Mugabe has railed against the gay community for more than a decade, but this year has repeatedly vowed to resist the inclusion of gay rights in a new constitution proposed for Zimbabwe.’We will not listen to those advocating for their rights in the new constitution,’ he told a religious gathering last week.’Today, the Anglican Church condones marriages between men and the same for women,’ said Mugabe, a Roman Catholic. ‘That is similar to dog behaviour.’Neighbouring South Africa is the only nation on the continent that gives equal rights to gays.- Nampa-AFP
