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British pensioner faces gay sex trial in Uganda

A British pensioner who faces prison after pictures of him having sex with another man were published in a Ugandan tabloid on Thursday dismissed the charges as he prepared to answer bail next weeks.

"The charges are nonsensical," the 65-year old former computer analyst told British news wire Press Association by telephone from Uganda, which has some of the strictest anti-gay laws in Africa.

"The publication of the pictures was as a consequence of the theft of my laptop," he said. "I wasn't publishing them. They were very private videos of my private life that got stolen."

Other news reports said Bernard Randall and his partner, 30-year-old Albert Cheptoyek, would face trial on Monday.

Randall last month denied charges of trafficking obscene material. If convicted he faces two years in prison. Cheptoyek faces a more serious charge of gross indecency, which carries a seven-year penalty.

An online petition set up to get Randall back to Britain, wrote that he was "scared out of his mind and at the mercy of mob rule and vigilantism."

Prominent gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and actor Stephen Fry have both voiced support for Randall.

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