11 Nov 2011

Man jailed for 30 years for murder of Ugandan gay activist

A 22-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to killing gay rights activist David Kato this year, has been sentenced to 30 years jail.

A man who confessed to murdering David Kato, one of Uganda's most prominent gay campaigners, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crime.

David Kato

The 46-year-old was beaten to death with a hammer at his home on 26 January 2011 and died on the way to hospital.

Enock Nsubuga was sentenced by a high court in Mukono, about 20 km (13 miles) east of the capital Kampala, for the murder of David Kato, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported.

The killing drew worldwide condemnation following a controversial bill that calls for the death penalty for certain homosexual acts was recently re-introduced in the Ugandan parliament after lawmakers failed to debate it during the last session of the legislative body.

Kato's photograph had also been published in a newspaper in Kampala as part of an article that called for homosexuals be hanged.

Uganda