Crime

Ugandan boyfriend of deported British man ‘fears he will never see him again’

Jan 24 2014
Written by Nick Duffy

The Ugandan boyfriend of Bernard Randall, a gay British man arrested in Uganda after pictures of him having sex appeared in a newspaper, fears he will never see him again.

Mr Randall was originally charged with “trafficking obscene publications” for possessing a video of a sexual act, and is currently awaiting deportation in a cell at Entebbe International Airport, following a ruling on Wednesday.

His boyfriend, Ugandan national Albert Cheptoyek, faces a much more serious charge of gross indecency, which can carry a jail term of up to seven years.

Mr Cheptoyek said: “I feel lonely now as I used to be with Bernard all the time. I feel as if I’m not going to see him again. I’m always crying.

“I’m scared to go outside the house. My life is in danger as people are pointing me out on the streets. My case is going on.

“I don’t know what the government is going to do to me. The government can’t change me because it’s my life.”

Mr Randall, a retired banker from Kent, was arrested in October and charged with “trafficking obscene publications” after Uganda’s Red Pepper newspaper made public the details of the video on its front page under the headline: “Exposed – Top City Tycoons Sodomy Sex Video Leaks.”

Mr Randall, who had pleaded not guilty, claims that robbers who stole his laptop unearthed the film, and passed the footage to the newspaper.

He could have faced up to two years in prison if found guilty.

In December, Uganda’s Parliament passed legislation to toughen the punishment for same-sex sexual activity, including life imprisonment for ‘repeat offenders’.

Last week, President Yoweri Museveni vetoed the bill, stating that there were better ways to “rescue” people from the “abnormality” of homosexuality.

The move to drop the bill came after criticism from the UK and US governments, and business magnate and investor Sir Richard Branson.