Gay British man deported from Uganda urges government to help his partner
Bernard Randall, the British man deported from Uganda after being found with a gay-sex video, has condemned Britain's failure to take decisive action against the east African country's increasingly homophobic government.
The 65-year-old, who is battling to get his partner, Albert Cheptoyek, out of the country, where he faces up to seven years in jail on indecency charges, said that other countries had sent strong messages to Uganda over its persecution of gay people, but Britain needed to be "much more aggressive".
Randall, from Conyer in Kent, was charged with "trafficking obscene material" last year after robbers stole a laptop containing images of him having sex with a man in Morocco. The images were subsequently published by the Ugandan tabloid newspaper Red Pepper and the couple were arrested, though charges against Randall were dropped on condition that he was deported to the UK.
Fears over Cheptoyek's safety have intensified after Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, last week signed into law a bill that imposes life sentences for acts of "aggravated homosexuality". The bill strengthens already strict legislation outlawing homosexual acts in the country and criminalises the "promotion of homosexuality".
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/01/gay-british-man-deported-uganda-bernard-randall-prison
