Burundi’s President, Evariste Ndayishimiye, launched a virulent anti-gay tirade on Friday, saying same-sex couples should be publicly stoned.
He also lashed out at Western countries that press other nations to allow gay rights or risk losing aid.
Homosexuality in Burundi, a conservative Christian country in East Africa, has been criminalised since 2009 with prison terms of up to two years for consensual same-sex acts.
“Personally, I think if we see these kinds of individuals in Burundi we should put them in a stadium and stone them. And it would not be a sin for those who do.”
Evariste Ndayishimiye
Ndayishimiye, a Catholic, described the marriage between same-sex couples as an “abominable practice.”
“Personally, I think if we see these kinds of individuals in Burundi we should put them in a stadium and stone them. And it would not be a sin for those who do,” Ndayishimiye said in response to a question at a public event broadcast by Burundian media in the east of the country.
He also criticised Western countries that urge smaller nations to allow gay marriage or risk losing aid, saying, “Let them keep their help, let them keep it.”
Burundians living abroad who have “chosen the devil” and practise homosexuality should “not come back,” he added.
