Namibian court declares law criminalising same-sex relationships unconstitutional

Source: Reuters via France24

Namibian court declares law criminalising same-sex relationships unconstitutional

Issued on: 21/06/2024 - 11:58
1 min

A high court in Namibia on Friday declared unconstitutional two colonial-era laws that criminalised same-sex acts between men, in a landmark win for the LGBTQ community in the southern African nation.

A top Namibian court on Friday struck down the African country's colonial-era laws criminalising same-sex relationships, in a victory for the LGBTQ community.

The high court in the capital, Windhoek, declared the crimes of "sodomy" and "unnatural sexual offences" as "unconstitutional and invalid" in a ruling hailed by LGBTQ rights groups.

"We are not persuaded that in a democratic society such as ours... it is reasonably justifiable to make an activity criminal just because a segment, maybe a majority, of the citizenry consider it to be unacceptable," the judges wrote.

The judgement overturns rarely enforced laws dating back to 1927, ...

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