Man jailed in Qatar for using Grindr ‘pressured to name sexual partners’

A British-Mexican man jailed in Qatar for using Grindr was pressured to reveal the names of his sexual partners as a condition of his release, his brother claims.

Manuel Guerrero Aviña was jailed in February, after replying to a fake message on the gay dating app Grindr.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, with no protection from LGBTQ+ discrimination, according to the equality ratings site Equaldex. The country scores just seven out of 100 in terms of LGBTQ+ rights. 

The 44-year-old former British Airways manager, who is HIV positive, has been released from prison but still faces prosecution and is banned from leaving the country.

He is about to run out of his antiretroviral medication, with Enrique Guerrero Aviña telling Attitude magazine that his brother only has nine doses of the medicine left.

“He is very affected by the torture, the post-traumatic stress, but he has hope that with the solidarity of the LGBTQ community and organisations worldwide, and everything we are doing, that we can reach freedom and justice,” Enrique said.

“But he’s worried about his health and access to medicine.”

Enrique went on to allege that Manuel’s medication was withheld to “create psychological pressure” on him in prison.

“They made an intervention to know the names of Manuel’s sexual partners, that was before the release. That act of torture was documented by the UK embassy. It’s like the trial of another century,” Enrique said, making it clear that his brother did not comply with the authorities.

The Qatari government believes “HIV is a criminal network”, he went on to say, before calling on the UK government to step in.

“[They] can make more effort to save the life of Manuel and bring him home. He’s a British citizen.”

The family also needs the support and solidarity of the LGBT community and British citizens to increase the pressure on the Qatari authorities, he said.