JOURNALIST GETS 4 YEARS IN JAIL FOR GAY SEX ASSAULT

A high profile Senegalese journalist and his one-time lover have both been sentenced to jail for having gay sex in an assault case in Dakar.

The well-known Tamsir Jupiter Ndiaye was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay 200,000 francs in damages for “acts against nature”, illegal possession of a weapon and assault and battery.

The other man in involved in the case, Matar Diop Diagne, who Ndiaye was found guilty of assaulting, was also sentenced to three years in jail for “acts against nature”.

Ndiaye was involved in a fight with Diagne over payment for sex. Diagne claimed that Ndiaye offered to pay him 100,000 Senegal francs but after having sex in Ndiaye’s office he was only offered 5,000 francs.

A fight ensued and Ndiaye allegedly stabbed Diagne in the stomach.

Both men admitted to having had sex. Ndiaye, who is married, told the court that he is not gay, was drunk and didn’t know what he was doing.

He also said that the stabbing was accidental as he only meant to frighten Diagne and insisted that the knife was an ordinary knife he used in his office for breakfast.

Diagne, in turn, accused Ndiaye of leading him “into homosexuality”.

Ndiaye’s lawyer, Khassimou Touré, criticised the judgement on Senegalese radio and said that the judge had been influenced by public opinion, noting that the prosecutor had only asked for a two year prison sentence.

“I am surprised, disgusted, and utterly dismayed by this dramatic decision. Today the court passed a moral judgement not a legal one,” he said.

“This decision has no place in our judicial system. It follows and is based on public outrage, and the media which inflamed public opinion and played judge and jury.

“This is an unjust decision and we will appeal against it. This decision is unfair and unjust, it has no legal justification and it will be totally overruled,” Touré insisted.

Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Senegal under article 319 of the penal code which punishes “improper or unnatural” acts with jail time of between one and five years.