A Senegalese court has jailed two men for “spreading false news” after they accused Ousmane Sonko, the country’s new prime minister, of tolerating homosexuality.<\/p>\n
Activist Bah Diakhate and Imam Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndao were jailed for three months and fined 100,000 CFA francs ($165, \u00a3130) each.<\/p>\n
They had been angered that Mr Sonko had allowed a visiting French politician to express his support for same-sex marriages.<\/p>\n
Homosexual acts are banned in the mainly Muslim West African country and are punishable by up to five years in prison.<\/p>\n
The political activist and the preacher were arrested two weeks ago after posting a video attacking Mr Sonko for giving a platform to Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon, a far-left French politician.<\/p>\n
Mr M\u00e9lenchon gave his opinion about same-sex marriages at a student forum in the capital, Dakar, in mid-May.<\/p>\n
His comments reportedly sparked boos from the audience at Cheikh Anta Diop University.<\/p>\n
In response Mr Sonko said that Western countries should show restraint on social matters such as LGBTQ rights as it could “lead to anti-Western sentiment”.<\/p>\n
Senegal would continue to manage issues around homosexuality in accordance with its socio-cultural norms, the prime minister said.<\/p>\n
He was quoted as saying that homosexuality was “not accepted, but tolerated” in Senegal.<\/p>\n
Mr Sonko, a former firebrand opposition leader, was appointed prime minister in April after his ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected president<\/a>.<\/p>\n They were freed from prison not long before the vote in an amnesty aimed at calming months of political turmoil after the outgoing president had tried to postpone the election.<\/p>\n The pair campaigned on a promise of radical change – with an Afrocentric and nationalist agenda, promising to reset Senegal\u2019s relationship with France, the country\u2019s former colonial power.<\/p>\nMore BBC stories on this topic:<\/h2>\n