British/Mexican man jailed in Qatar, denied HIV meds
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numbersguy82:
What a horrible story. We’ve discussed this many times on here, but it’s so important to be aware of where you travel and the laws in those areas.
--- Quote --- Gay sex in the conservative Muslim country is punishable by up to seven years in prison, and carries the death penalty under Sharia law, although this is unenforced. The ex-British Airways manager, who is HIV positive, is now out of prison but faces prosecution, according to his brother. He is banned from leaving the country and is about to run out of antiretroviral medication. “We need the support and solidarity of the LGBT community” – Manuel’s brother, Enrique Speaking to Attitude last week, Enrique Guerrero Aviña said: “Manuel was released, but the investigation continues. He has a travel ban. The medical situation is not solved. At this moment, Manuel is taking his own antiretroviral, but we only have nine days’ more of the doses.” “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,” added Enrique. “But he’s worried about his health, and access to medicine.” Enrique points out that “suspending and then taking the antiretroviral is very dangerous, as that can generate resistance to the medicine.” Enrique alleges that, while in prison, Manuel’s HIV medication was withheld “to create psychological pressure.” “They made an intervention to know the names of Manuel’s sexual partners,” he added, later qualifying that Manuel did not give over names. “That was before the release. That act of torture was documented by the UK embassy. It’s like the trial of another century.” “The prosecutor could take him to a trial,” Enrique furthermore explained, adding his brother “needs to be repatriated. The UK government can do it, but we need the decision to be made. “We need the support and solidarity of the LGBT community and the British citizens to make more pressure. The UK government can make more effort to save the life of Manuel and to bring him home. He’s a British citizen. “The UK government know about the case, the situation, and that Manuel does not have access to a fair trial. Manuel was 38 days without a lawyer and without a translator. Until this day, the lawyer doesn’t have access to the files. That’s not fair.” “Like a trial of another century” Enrique, now leading the QatarFreeManuel campaign, also claims drugs were planted on his brother during the arrest. “The Qatari government thinks HIV is a criminal network,” Enrique says. “They want to know the names of sexual partners to go for them. It’s terrible.” --- End quote ---
Also reported here, in case you don’t like the same news sources that I prefer… https://www.advocate.com/news/gay-airline-torture-qatar-grindr
Tonny2:
ojo. Hello numbers!… Thanks for sharing. I heard about this case, 80s sad but I don’t understand why people decide to go places that that I know welcoming either to Americans, as that guy that went to North Korea, or to places like Dubai. Anyway, the story is sad, and I hope this person is allowed to go back to his country… Again, thanks for sharing
Ps. Dubai or places where you can’t even are allowed to take your HIV medication in