
Hearings on a challenge to the anti-LGBTQ+ measure approved by parliament in February have commenced at Ghana’s Supreme Court.
Richard Dela Sky, an attorney and journalist, filed a request to contest the contentious bill, and the court allowed it.
The bill stipulates that homosexuals must serve three years in prison, while LGBT advocates must serve five to ten years.
In a March complaint, the plaintiffs requested that the court block the speaker and clerk of parliament from forwarding the measure to the president and that President Nana Akufo Addo not sign it into law.
The court also considered a second complaint that academic researcher Dr. Amanda Odoi filed disputing the bill’s constitutionality.
The first day of hearings took place in a tense atmosphere with heated arguments during oral submissions between legal representatives of the various parties and the chief justice.
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo expressed concern about the strong language used in some of the sworn statements.
“I think that the language is intemperate, a lot of the paragraphs contain language that is inappropriate, scandalous, so I want to give you directions,” she said.
Many were not surprised by the tense scenes on the first day of the hearing because the measure is controversial and has been criticized by human rights organizations and Western donors.
Due to Ghanaians’ intense interest in the case, the hearing was overseen by the Chief Justice and four other Supreme Court judges, and it was televised live.
Prior to approving the bill into law, President Akufo Addo had stated he would wait for the Supreme Court’s decision.
The matter has been postponed until May 17. (BBC)
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