Kampala police target 'gay-friendly' bar

Sixty-seven people arrested by police in a Kampala bar popular with gays were charged with 'common nuisance', but rights activists said it was a bid to intimidate the LGBT community. A report on the News24 site notes that police raided the Ram Bar in the capital on Sunday and arrested 125 people, 58 of whom were subsequently released. Clare Byarugaba from the human rights organisation Chapter Four Uganda told AFP that 'the police knew who they would be targeting ... it's a crackdown on any space seen to be LGBT-friendly'. Lawyer Patricia Kimera, who represented many of the accused in court, said her clients had not received a fair hearing. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Uganda's Parliament has considered reintroducing a anti-homosexuality Bill. In terms of the proposed law, courts would impose harsh sentences, including seven years in prison for being homosexual and the death penalty for homosexual acts.