Four women who were arrested in Senegal earlier this month after they were accused of kissing in public have been set free because of insufficient evidence by police, while the fate of another remains to be seen
Four of five women who were arrested 11 November at a restaurant in Dakar’s Yoff district have been freed by a judge after he found police had presented insufficient evidence to prove the women had committed a crime.
Justice Adama Traore announced his verdict Wednesday morning according to the Associated Press, freeing the women.
Police had accused the women of kissing in the restaurant, something they denied during a court appearance Monday, arguing that if they had done so it would have elicited the hostility of other diners.
One of the arrested women is an assistant director of lesbian rights group Women’s Smile but Justice Traore said police had not proven she had broken Senegal’s law banning same-sex sexual activity.
A girl who was under age at the time of her arrest is being tried separately and it remains to be seen if her charges will also be thrown out.
by Andrew Potts
Source – Gay Star News
