Ugandan prosecutors said on Friday that they have thrown out a case against two women arrested for kissing in public under an anti-gay law considered one of the harshest in the world.
Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act imposes penalties of up to life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations, while “aggravated homosexuality” is punishable by death.
The two women, both in their 20s, were arrested in February following a complaint from neighbours in the northwestern city of Arua.
Neighbours took photos of them and they were suspected of “same-sex orgies”, local police spokesperson Josephine Angucia told AFP at the time.
“I confirm that the case was withdrawn from court by the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions),” Irene Nakimbugwe, the deputy spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, told AFP.
