Manuel Guerrero, the Mexican arrested in Qatar for being gay and convicted of “drug possession”

On February 4, the police Qatar set a trap for Mexican Manuel Guerrero Aviña through Grindr, a free dating application serving the LGBTQ community. A man scheduled him for a meeting at a place in Doha. Upon arrival, several plainclothes agents detained him and later planted drugs on him to justify the arrest, his relatives reported. This week it was reported that he was sentenced to six months in prison, although according to the Mexican Foreign Ministry he will be able to leave the country after paying a fine.

However the Manuel Guerrero Liberation Committeemade up of activists, friends and family, accused the Government of Mexico of misinforming regarding the case and assured that it has not been closed, since “the sentence is not final”. He explained that this is a first instance resolution that can be appealed by both Warrior as by the prosecution, which has 30 days to do so.

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The Chancellery of Mexico had assured that Warriorwho also has British nationality and was in provisional releasewas sentenced to six months in prison and “will be able to leave the country once the total amount of the fine” of 10,000 Qatari riyals ($2,746) is paid.

In a statement released by the Committee, Warrior He said he feels “deeply disappointed with the unfair verdict” and announced that will meet with his lawyers and the embassies of the United Kingdom and Mexico to evaluate his options.

The Chancellery of Mexico He also reported that during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Guerrero was accompanied by his mother and by diplomatic and consular personnel from Mexico and the United Kingdom.

For their part, the authorities of Qatar stated on Wednesday that the arrest and sentencing of Aviña Warrior was for possession of illegal substances and not because of their sexual orientation.

“Mr. Aviña was arrested for possession of illegal substances. He admitted possession of the seized substances and was subsequently booked, searched and presented to court. A drug test then came back positive, confirming the presence of amphetamine and methamphetamine in Mr. Aviña’s organization at the time of his arrest,” a Qatari official told the EFE agency.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused Guerrero’s family of making “false accusations” about the reasons for the legal case.

According to the file, to which he had access International Amnestythe authorities informed Warrior that traces of crystal methamphetamine residue and other drug-related material had been found on him. He firmly maintains that the drugs and related items were not his and that they were planted by the police.

On March 24, an official Qatar told Amnesty International that “Mr. Aviña was arrested for possession of illegal substances on his person and in his apartment.” […] A drug test later came back positive,” and that “Mr. Aviña’s arrest and subsequent investigation are solely related to possession of illegal substances with intent to supply.”

The case

Manuel Guerrero He has lived for seven years in Doha and works for the airline Qatar Airways.

The police of Qatar arrested him on February 4 after attending an appointment arranged through Grindr in which The agents created a fake profile.

According to the family of Warriorhis arrest report indicates that was arrested based on information from a secret source received by the General Directorate of Drug Control, and that nothing illegal was found on his person. All evidence was collected during a search of her home on February 4.

The case became known at the end of February, after Warrior did not have access to a lawyer or a translator for 20 days, the Spanish newspaper indicated The country.

At that time, several associations LGTBI They protested the violation of human rights that Qatar committed with the arrest and to report that Guerrero was in jail without access to the medications he needed to treat his HIV positive status.

In accordance with International Amnestythe authorities of Qatar They held Guerrero Aviña without charge for more than six weeks, They interrogated him about his sexual relations and subjected him to ill-treatment because of his sexual orientation and his HIV positive status.

According to his family, police questioned Guerrero without the assistance of a lawyer and forced him to put his fingerprints on an alleged confession in Arabica language he does not understand, without providing him with an interpreter or a translation of the document, under threat of physical abuse if he did not sign.

Amnesty International reported that it reviewed that document, which said that, during his interrogation on February 5 at 5:07 am, Guerrero Aviña had confessed to using and possessing drugs. Six hours after signing this “confession”, Guerrero Aviña told the Public Ministry in a court hearing that he denied all drug-related charges.

He also told his family that, during his interrogations, security agents had threatened to whip him if he did not unlock his phone to identify other LGBTI people, including previous sexual partners.

According to Amnesty International, Guerrero was only able to have a lawyer on March 15.

“Authorities also denied him access to documents related to his case for more than two months after his arrest, and he and his lawyers were only granted access to the case file a few days before the first session of his trial. Therefore, he was denied adequate time and facilities to prepare and present his defense, as well as to challenge the arguments and evidence presented before the court on equal terms with the prosecution, which violated his right to defense,” he denounced. International Amnesty.

Guerrero also told his family that during the second week of detention he was placed in solitary confinement. He was denied access to food and water for 15 hours a day, so he had been forced to beg for food.

He was provisionally released on March 18, under a travel ban.

“The authorities of Qatar They must annul the scandalous conviction of Aviña Warrior and lift the travel ban that has been imposed. There are serious fears that Guerrero Aviña has been targeted because of his sexual orientation and that he has been forced to provide the authorities with information that they could use to carry out a broader repression of LGBTI people in Qatar”said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Guerrero Aviña’s treatment in custody and his unfair trial was absolutely horrible. “Instead of convicting people following unfair procedures, Qatari authorities must urgently end discrimination and persecution of people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, and repeal all laws that discriminate against LGBTI people,” he added. .