A young man is being prosecuted for “distinguished homosexuality” in Uganda – a crime under a law that was ratified in May and is considered one of the most oppressive for members of the LGBTI+ community in the world – a judicial source said yesterday Monday.

The 20-year-old suspect was “charged in Soroti”, in the eastern part of the country, and “remanded in custody”, explained the spokeswoman for the Ugandan prosecution, Jacqueline Okui.

According to the indictment, which AFP was able to locate, the young man is accused of having “an illegal sexual relationship (…) with a 41-year-old adult”.

At the end of May, the president of Uganda, General H.E. Yoweri Museveni signed and made into law a draconian anti-homosexual law, which provides for heavy penalties for persons who have homosexual relations or “promote” homosexuality.

The crime of “distinguished homosexuality” carries the death penalty, which however has not been practiced in Uganda for years.

This law caused indignant reactions from the United Nations, human rights organizations and Western governments.

At the beginning of August, the World Bank announced that it was suspending all new grants to Uganda after the ratification of the disputed law, judging that it “fundamentally contradicts all of its values”.

US President Joe Biden called the law a “tragic attack” on human rights. The head of European diplomacy, Giuseppe Borrell, spoke of a law that “contradicts human rights”.

The new law, however, is supported by a large part of the population in Uganda, a predominantly Christian and conservative country, where parliamentarians described it as a necessary breakwater to stem the immorality of the West, according to them.

President Museveni accused the World Bank of “putting pressure” on his country and added that Uganda will “develop with or without loans” from the international financial body.