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Nigeria Police Raid Same-Sex Wedding, Arrest Dozens

Police in Nigeria's southern Delta State have arrested several dozen people accused of violating the country's anti-gay law by allegedly participating in a gay wedding. The police publicly paraded the suspects before the media, interrogating them about the accusations, assaulting their dignity and rights to privacy, association, and a fair trial, rights group Human Rights Watch said.

In 2022, Nigeria's Federal High Court found that pretrial media parades violate the country's constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which guarantee respect for the dignity of the person and the right to a fair trial, including the presumption of innocence, it says.

Nigerian authorities should ensure accountability for the police's unlawful media parade and urgently end the practice. They should release without charge everyone arrested under the anti-gay law, and seek its repeal. No one's lives should be criminalized simply because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.

InFocus

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(File photo).

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