An Algerian court has jailed two men and given 42 others suspended sentences for allegedly attending a ‘gay wedding’. Police raided a private residence on 24 July this year in el-Khroub, a district in Constantine Province, northeastern Algeria.
Neighbors had allegedly complained to police. Officers arrested the group of nine women and 35 men. Most of those the police rounded up are university students.
An Algerian lawyer involved in the case said the court relied on police descriptions of the scene to sentence the 44. Officers claimed decorations, flowers and sweet treats made it a wedding reception.
They also used the men’s supposedly gay appearance as evidence of guilt. The court convicted the 44 of ‘same-sex relations,’ ‘public