Burundi president calls for stoning same-sex couples

NAIROBI: Burundi´s President Evariste Ndayishimiye launched a virulent anti-gay tirade on Friday, saying same-sex couples should be publicly stoned.

He also lashed out at Western countries that press other nations to allow gay rights or risk losing aid.

Homosexuality in Burundi, a conservative Christian country in East Africa, has been criminalised since 2009 with prison terms of up to two years for consensual same-sex acts.

Ndayishimiye, a Catholic, described marriage between same-sex couples as an “abominable practice”.

“Personally, I think if we see these kind of individuals in Burundi we should put them in a stadium and stone them. And it would not be a sin for those who do,” Ndayishimiye said in response to a question at a public event in the east of the country that was broadcast by Burundian media.

He also criticised Western countries that urge smaller nations to allow gay marriage or risk losing aid, saying: “Let them keep their help, let them keep it.”

Burundians living abroad who have “chosen the devil” and practise homosexuality should “not come back”, he added.

In response, Washington has said it would remove Uganda from a key trade deal and has imposed visa restrictions on some officials, while the World Bank suspended new loans to the country. The legislation is currently being challenged at Uganda´s constitutional court.