The President of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, has said same-sex individuals or couples should be publicly stoned.
He also lampooned 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.
Ndayishimiye, a member of the Catholic faith, described the marriage between same-sex couples as an “abominable practice.”
His call for stoning of homosexuals comes in sharp contrast to the recent ruling by the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, that Catholic clerics can bless the union of same-sex couples.
“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 criticized 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 practice homosexuality, he said, should “not come back”.
Homosexuality is illegal in many East African countries, the African region where Burundi is located.