A retired British man at the centre of a gay sex case in
Uganda will be deported back to Britain on Wednesday, a court ruled.
"The court orders immediate deportation within 12
hours," of Bernard Randall, judge Hellen Ajio said.
An earlier charge of "trafficking obscene
publications" against Randall was dropped.
An official from the prosecutor's office gave no reason
for the change, but said Randall was being deported because he had "kept
on corrupting Uganda's youth" and had not renewed his visa on time.
"Lies!" retorted Randall, although his lawyer,
John Francis Onyango, said the ruling would not be appealed.
The lawyer had asked that his client be given five days
in which to leave the country.
Officials at the court in Entebbe, outside Kampala, said
police would accompany Randall to his home and allow him to collect his
personal belongings before escorting him to the airport.
The charges were brought against Randall after his laptop
was stolen and films on the computer were handed to a Ugandan tabloid
newspaper.
A former computer systems expert who comes from Kent,
southeast England, Randall first travelled to Uganda in 2011, shortly after his
wife died just short of their 40-year wedding anniversary. He returned on
holiday to Uganda in September.
Randall, who has two grown-up daughters, only came out as
a homosexual after his wife's death.
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. A law adopted by
parliament last month but rejected by President Yoweri Museveni would have seen
repeat homosexuals jailed for life.
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