David Cecil deported from Uganda over ‘gay play’

Published on 12/02/2013 16:52

A THEATRE director has been deported from Uganda over a play depicting homosexuals, a UK embassy spokesman has said.

Mr Cecil, who arrived in the UK this morning, could have faced up to four years in jail for disobeying a public official had he been convicted after ignoring calls to cancel performances of his play, which casts a gay man as the leading character.

David Cecil was arrested last September for “disobeying lawful orders” after the play was shown to audiences without the knowledge of the authorities. The charges were subsequently dropped.

However, he was rearrested last week as proceedings to deport him began on the grounds he was an “undesirable person”.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, a country where gay men and women face attacks and social exclusion.

Mr Cecil’s play, the River and the Mountain, was shown in two theatres in Kampalaa last August.

A foreign office spokesman expressed concern that Mr Cecil had been deported without being given the opportunity to challenge the verdict through proper legal channels.

Mr Cecil leaves behind a Ugandan girlfriend and two children in the capital.