COURT: Gay Hatred Case

11 January 2012, 14:10 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A group of Muslim men handed out to the public in Derby a leaflet that called for homosexuals to be ``punished'' and given the death sentence, a court has heard.

The five men gave out the pamphlet, called The Death Penalty?, which showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose, said buggery was a great sin leading to hell, that it used to be punished by hanging and that people practising and allowing homosexuality would suffer, the court was told.

Ihjaz Ali, 42, Mehboob Hussain, 45, Umar Javed, 38, his brother Razwan Javed, 27, and Kabir Ahmed, 28, allegedly handed out the document outside and near the Jamia Mosque in Rosehill Street in July 2010, as well as putting it through letterboxes in the neighbourhood.
All five men are accused of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation in the first prosecution of its kind since legislation came into force in March 2010.

Opening the prosecution's case at Derby Crown Court, where the five men are on trial after denying all charges, prosecutor Bobbie Cheema said the case was an example of a hate crime.

She showed the jury of seven men and five women three leaflets the men handed out, which included The Death Penalty? leaflet, and told them they would hear from witnesses who received them.

The two other leaflets were made and used as part of the campaign to publicise a counter-protest in response to the Gay Pride parade due to be held in Derby on July 10, 2010, she said.

The Death Penalty leaflet, which mentions execution and says it is the only way the immoral sin of homosexuality can be erased from society, was handed out to people outside the Jamia Mosque after Friday prayers on July 2.

Ali faces four charges, while Hussain, of Rosehill Street, Normanton, and Umar Javed, of Whittaker Street, Derby, are charged with two counts each.

Razwan Javed, of Wilfred Street, Derby, and Kabir Ahmed, of Madeley Street, Derby, are charged with one count each.