A court in the West African state of Cameroon has sentenced an editor to a six-month suspended sentence for publishing pictures allegedly showing a minister involved in homosexuality, the Cameroon Tribune newspaper said on Friday.
Georges Gilbert Baongla, editor of the scandal sheet Le Dementi, was found guilty of offending public morals and obscene publication. He was also fined 500 000 CFA francs ($1 000).
The court had described as ”noble” the defendant’s campaign against homosexuality, but deplored his methods, the Cameroon Tribune quoted Baongla’s lawyer as saying.
Last year, several newspapers stirred up a heated debate in Cameroon by publishing lists of alleged gay people without providing proof, naming among them prominent politicians, artists, sportsmen and clerics.
Intended to discredit a section of the political classes, the controversial lists provoked homophobic comment in the media.
Homosexuality is illegal and can lead to up to five years’ imprisonment in Cameroon.
One editor was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment after a complaint by a government minister named in a list. — Sapa-AFP