Free gay men jailed for being who they are in Turkmenistan!
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In mid-April, a famous entertainer and several other men were arrested on sodomy charges. Some were able to bribe themselves out of prison. On May 7, a Turkmen court sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment.
Article 135 of the Turkmen Criminal Code criminalizes consensual homosexual conduct. The punishment for being gay in Turkmenistan is two years’ imprisonment and up to 10 years if convicted repeatedly.
This barbaric law increases stigma against LGBT+ people in the country and allows authorities to harass gay and bisexual men and treat them in a cruel and degrading manner.
Men accused of homosexual conduct have been subjected to forced anal examination. It has been proven that police use dating apps to bait men and then blackmail them and extort money. Men who have sex with other men have also been reported missing.
Sign this petition to urge Turkmen authorities to drop all charges against the men convicted under Article 135 and free them.
We demand that all men sentenced for homosexual conduct on May 7, 2020, are immediately acquitted and released.
It is unacceptable that Turkmenistan, a country that proclaims itself to be a democratic secular state, has such inhuman laws that imprison men for being homosexual.
We demand that Turkmenistan abides by its international obligations and repeals article 135 of its Criminal Code, thereby decriminalizing consensual homosexual sex since the article is unjustifiably discriminatory and abused to harass and degrade innocent men.
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