Qatar has granted provisional freedom to Manuel Guerrero Aviña. This was confirmed by his household and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of Mexico. The citizen of Mexican and British nationality, imprisoned for being gay, will have the ability to observe the judicial process outside of prison and continue with his therapy for HIV, after the Qatari authorities refused to supply him with entry to extra medicines by locking him in a prison in Doha, the capital of the Arab nation. The Mexican Foreign Ministry famous that the choose granted him “freedom with out bail,” following a request from Guerrero Aviña’s protection final weekend. The organizations accompanying the case have confirmed that the Mexican has already left prison.
Enrique Guerrero, his brother, celebrated the choose’s resolution as a “vital advance” and a “nice triumph” to distance him from those that “have subjected him to torture and have prevented him from gaining access to his medicines.” The household has reported humiliating therapy and bodily and psychological abuse in opposition to the Mexican, who was arrested on February 4 after making a date by Grindr, a relationship utility widespread amongst gay males. The invitation to a gathering turned out to be an ambush by Qatari brokers, who opened a pretend profile and detained him when he went to the assembly place, in line with his household. “I admire the solidarity of the LGBT group, the individuals of Mexico and the United Kingdom, and the worldwide group who’ve proven their help for this trigger,” he mentioned.
The Manuel Guerrero Committee, a bunch of activists and households advocating for his launch, added that “the combat continues, till he’s again residence free and with out costs.” The choose had already rejected a primary request from Guerrero Aviña’s lawyer final Thursday, after a listening to that solely lasted a couple of minutes and in which the choose didn’t justify her refusal. The kinfolk admitted in a press convention that they didn’t anticipate a positive decision to the attraction, offered final weekend. The courtroom’s resolution got here at a important second, when members of the family estimated that he solely had remedy left for about 10 days.
“The embassies of Mexico and the United Kingdom in Qatar accompanied Manuel throughout this listening to and knowledgeable the household of the choice, in addition to the following steps,” Foreign Affairs mentioned on Sunday, though it mentioned it was nonetheless ready to obtain a written affirmation of the choose’s resolution.
The ruling doesn’t permit the accused to depart Qatar, his kinfolk defined final week. Guerrero Aviña has not but been knowledgeable of the formal costs he faces. Homosexuality is prosecuted as a criminal offense in Qatar, below spiritual legal guidelines that carry penalties of as much as seven years in prison. Relatives reported that the Qatari brokers planted methamphetamines on the Mexican to justify the arrest, however it has not but been confirmed whether or not there will be a cost for drug trafficking.
According to the household, the Qatari justice system has a interval of six months from the arrest to current prison costs and say what they’re accusing him of. Those following the case stay agency in their request that Guerrero Aviña have the ability to depart Qatar and return residence. “The Embassy of Mexico will continue to be in contact with Manuel and his household, in collaboration with the British authorities, in addition to with the prosecutor’s workplace to watch and help the consular safety case,” the SRE commented in a press release.
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