Ousmane Sonko #homophobia #conspiracy lemonde.fr
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, on Friday, May 22, condemned Western "tyranny" in wanting to "impose" homosexuality, weeks after a new law was passed to toughen sentences for same-sex relations
LGBTQ+ issues have stirred controversy in Muslim-majority Senegal in recent years, and queer rights advocacy is frequently denounced as a tool used by Westerners[…]
At the end of March, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye enacted a law doubling the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, after the legislation had been overwhelmingly approved in parliament. Dozens of arrests have already been made under the law
"There is a kind of tyranny. There are perhaps eight billion human beings in the world. Eighty per cent or more don't want" homosexuality, Sonko said in an address to lawmakers. "No Arab country will criticise us, nor will any African country, but there is a nucleus called the West (…) which wants to impose it [homosexuality] on the rest of the world," said Sonko, who heads the PASTEF party that holds a majority in the National Assembly
He then claimed that the West, "because it has the means and controls the media (…) wants to impose their diktat. The sovereign Senegalese people do not want these practices here in Senegal"[…]
The prime minister said that, after the law was approved, he had heard much criticism of Senegal in foreign countries, and particularly France. "If they have opted for these practices, it's their problem, but we don't have any lessons to take from them, absolutely none"[…]
Sonko, who won several rounds of applause from deputies in parliament while he spoke, also said that the law would be bolstered if needed. He urged the justice system to ensure the law received "total" application
The new law punishes "acts against nature"[…]by five to 10 years in prison, compared with one to five years previously. It also provides for three to seven years in prison for those found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships