Ghana court frees 21 arrested for attending May LGBTQ+ event

Acquittal comes after attorney general said evidence insufficient to prosecute for unlawful assembly

A Ghanaian court has acquitted and freed 21 people who were arrested during a crackdown on homosexuality in May for attending an LGBTQ+ event.

Gay sex is a criminal offence in the west African country and members of the LGBTQ+ community often face discrimination.

A proposed new law that would impose tougher sentences and criminalise LGBTQ+ advocacy received its first reading in Ghana’s parliament this week, despite international criticism of the bill.

Those arrested in May – 16 women and five men – were detained for unlawful assembly in Ho, in the southeastern Volta region, where they were taking part in a meeting for LGBTQ+ advocates.

Ch Supt Akolgo Yakubu Ayamga, a police prosecutor, said the attorney general had advised there was insufficient evidence to continue with prosecution.

“The court has today struck out the case based on the advice received, and the 21 have been acquitted and discharged. It means that the case is over and they are free.”

The lawyer for the accused, Julia Ayertey, confirmed the ruling.

“We welcome the decision and that has always been our argument from the beginning of this case,” she said. “It has been a rough journey since May but thankfully the law has spoken.”

The rights group Rightify Ghana had said the 21 were at a meeting to empower LGBTQ+ people on various topics including training as para-legals to document and report rights violations.

Security forces raided and shut down the office of an LGBTQ+ rights group in the capital, Accra, in February after politicians and religious leaders called for its closure.

The crackdown comes at a sensitive time for the country’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is reaching out to African-Americans and the Ghanaian diaspora to encourage people to return to their ancestral country.

The actor Idris Elba, the model Naomi Campbell and the designer Virgil Abloh signed a letter of support for LGBTQ+ Ghanaians this year, expressing concern at the discrimination they face.

5 August 2021

The Guardian