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Briton charged with breaking Uganda's anti-gay laws after intimate images of him appeared in a newspaper is to be deported to the UK Briton charged with breaking Uganda's anti-gay laws after intimate images of him appeared in a newspaper is to be deported to the UK
(about 4 hours later)
A pensioner from Kent who faced imprisonment in Uganda after images of him having sex with a man were published in a newspaper, will be deported on Thursday according to reports. Bernard Randall, the British man facing a trial in Uganda for possessing a gay sex video, is to deported back to the UK immediately after all charges against him were dropped.
The charges of trafficking obscene material put against 65-year-old Bernard Randall last year in Uganda, where homosexuality is currently illegal, were dropped following a ruling by the Judge at Entebbe Court on Wednesday. The 65-year-old, originally from Faversham in Kent, had been facing a possible two-year prison sentence after being charged with “trafficking obscene publications”.
His lawyer said prosecutors are using the excuse of an expired visa to deport him, after they failed to find evidence against him in the criminal case. Today, magistrate Hellen Ajio ordered that the charges – which Randall strongly denied – be dropped and that the former computer analyst be deported from the east African country within 12 hours on the basis that his visa had expired.
It is expected that Mr Randall, from Faversham, will be deported from Uganda within 12 hours, but his lawyer has requested he be given five days to leave the country. Handing down the ruling, she told Randall: “In Uganda we love you, but we don’t love the acts of homosexuals. I’ve told you time and time again that God loves you.”
Jane Kajuga, a spokeswoman for Uganda's directorate of prosecutions, confirmed the case had been dropped but did not explain why. The decision comes just weeks after Uganda’s parliament passed a draconian anti-gay bill imposing life in prison for people convicted of some homosexual acts.
The photos of Mr Randall were released when his home was broken into, and stills from an intimate video of him were published in a Ugandan newspaper. If found guilty, Mr Randall could have faced a two-year jail term in Uganda. Randall appeared in Entebbe Magistrates Court with Albert Cheptoyek, 33, a Ugandan national, who still faces a prison sentence of up to seven years if found guilty of “acts of gross indecency”, which he denies. The pair claim that their home was robbed last September and Randall’s laptop, which contained images of him having sex with another man in Morocco, was stolen. The alleged thieves passed the images to Pastor Solomon Moses Male, who leads the country’s anti-homosexuality crusade and gave them to tabloid newspaper Red Pepper.
30-year-old Ugandan national Albert Cheptoyek, with whom Mr Randall lives, faces a charge of gross indecency for which he may have to serve a seven-year jail sentence. Mr Cheptoyek denies the charges. At one stage during the hearing a prosecutor said the retiree would “continue to corrupt morals” if he stayed in Uganda, causing a visibly upset and shaken Randall to scream: “Lies!”. The prosecution had argued for Randall’s deportation. The defence had requested he be given five days to leave the country.
In December, Mr Randall had expressed his concerns at a new anti-gay Bill proposed by the country’s MPs, and said he could foresee a repeat of the murder of David Kato – known as Uganda’s first openly homosexual man.
Although homosexuality has been illegal in Uganda since the colonial era, the Bill’s architect MP David Bahati said that tougher legislation was needed because homosexuals from the West threaten to destroy Ugandan families, he claims.
In January, the Ugandan president refused to approve the laws which would have made it illegal not to report a homosexual person. Talking about homosexuality without condemning it would also have been an offence.
Bernard Randall, interviewed at his home in Entebbe in November, 2013. The 65 years old is likely to be deported on Thursday after he was cleared of charges made under Uganda's anti-gay laws.Bernard Randall, interviewed at his home in Entebbe in November, 2013. The 65 years old is likely to be deported on Thursday after he was cleared of charges made under Uganda's anti-gay laws.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the arrest of a British national on October 19 in Uganda and we are providing consular assistance.” Defence lawyer John Francis Onyango told The Independent he was “happy” the charges had been dropped because there was “no adequate evidence” to charge Mr Randall.
Supporters of Mr Randall said his case was another example of state-sponsored harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Uganda. “But we’re concerned about his deportation on the flimsy grounds of non-renewal of his visa,” Onyango said.
Friends of Mr Randall have been campaigning to get him back to the UK, with his case drawing support from comedian Stephen Fry and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. “The prosecution know that his passport had been robbed and that he actually reported to the immigration department to renew his visa and his request was actually denied, back in December.”
Mr Randall will be the second foreigner deported from the East African country over alleged homosexual offenses. Last year the British producer of a gay-themed play was deported after being jailed for staging the play without official authorization. Such authorization is not usually required to stage a play. He said they would not be appealing the ruling because it “won’t serve any meaningful purpose”.
Additional reporting by AP The lawyer added that the case against Cheptoyek was now “extremely weak” as he and Randall were jointly charged.
Speaking after the ruling, Cheptoyek told The Independent that Randall was being deported for reasons which were “not good or fair”.
“I think they’re deporting him because he’s gay,” Cheptoyek said.
When asked how he felt about his own situation he said: “I’m scared. The bill has passed. The government of Uganda don’t want gays.”
A member of the UK High Commission was present in court, but did not comment.
Last week, it was reported that President Yoweri Museveni had blocked the anti-gay Bill, but gay rights activists in Kampala stressed that he hadn’t done so but had only “promised and expressed his concerns” about the legislation.