Saudi Arabia: Gay man jailed for three years over naked photos
A gay man in Saudi Arabia has been jailed for three years, for engaging in ‘immoral acts’ by taking naked photos of himself.
The man – whose name has not been made available – was convicted by a court after he was found with naked selfies on his phone – which he had allegedly sent to other men via social media.
Gulf News reports that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice claims the man had also offered to have anal sex.
He was found guilty by the court in Dammam, and sentenced to three years behind bars, with a fine of 100,000 Saudi riyal (£17,000).
Homosexuality and cross-dressing are both expressly criminalised in Saudi Arabia, where the gay community faces regular raids from the religious police.
In 2010, Saudi prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for murdering his assistant, Bandar Abdulaziz, in a luxury London hotel. The court heard the attack had a “sexual” element and that the prince had used male escorts in the past.
In early 2011, Stephen Comiskey, a 36-year-old British man, was arrested and beaten in Saudi Arabia by religious police when they discovered he was gay.
