A Kenyan court has awarded two gay men charged with “unnatural sex” for engaging in consensual sexual relations a total of Sh4 million ($31,000) in compensation.
This is after the Magistrates Court in the coastal city of Mombasa ruled the authorities violated the men’s rights in obtaining evidence.
During the arrest, the two men were forcefully subjected to genital examination and HIV tests against their constitutional rights to privacy and the rights of an arrested person, including being allowed to speak with a lawyer.
Section 162 of Kenya’s penal code criminalizes consensual same-sex relations with a 14-year jail term. Prosecutors wanted the court to find the two gay men, who were arrested in 2021, guilty of the offence.