Kenya’s High Court on Friday was set to decide whether same-sex relations are crimes in the East African nation.
The case challenges colonial-era laws that criminalise homosexuality with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
“The potential landmark ruling is hugely significant for Kenya and the continent,’’ Human Rights Watch researcher Neela Ghosal told dpa.
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According to Ghosal, if it is positive, it will be the first time on the African continent since the mid-1990s when South Africa decriminalised homosexuality that a court has made such a decision.
Friday’s ruling came after three Kenyan gay rights organisations filed petitions to declare sections of the penal code, which stem from the 1930s and make gay sex a crime, unconstitutional.
Court hearings on the matter have been ongoing since February 2018. (NAN)
