Senegalese authorities have charged 71 men with “unnatural acts” as the country steps up a crackdown on homosexuality under tougher legislation introduced earlier this year, the public prosecutor’s office said late Friday.
The men appeared before a court following a preliminary investigation, while charges against 28 other defendants were dropped entirely, prosecutors said in a statement.
Senegal in March approved legislation doubling penalties for homosexual relations. Those convicted now face prison sentences of between five and 10 years.
More than 100 people have been arrested in recent months on suspicion of homosexual activity, including several local celebrities. Some detainees had also faced allegations related to the deliberate transmission of HIV.
However, prosecutors said charges of “endangering the lives of others” and the “wilful transmission of HIV/AIDS” were dismissed following the preliminary investigation.
Prosecutor Saliou Dicko told AFP on Saturday that charges had also been dropped against a French national, an engineer in his 30s who lives in Dakar and had been detained since February over allegations of “unnatural acts.”
The public prosecutor’s office has appealed that decision.
Senegal’s crackdown comes amid a broader tightening of laws targeting same-sex relations in parts of West Africa, where several governments have introduced or strengthened legislation criminalising homosexuality in recent months.