“I personally think that if we see people like this in Burundi, we should put them in a stadium and stone them,” the head of the East African country said at a televised public event on Friday. “It would not be a sin for those who do that,” he added.
Ndayishimiye added that homosexuals from Burundi living abroad “should not return.” He also criticized Western countries that pressured other states to respect gay rights under the threat of losing aid funds.
Same-sex couples are massively persecuted in Christian Burundi and have faced prison sentences of up to two years since 2009. In March this year, 24 people were charged with “homosexual practices” in the East African country. President Ndayishimiye called same-sex marriage a “vile practice.” Homosexuality is also illegal in most other East African countries. Uganda passed one of the world’s strictest anti-gay laws in May.
