Aug 21, 2007Quickie Link: Clash Over Nigeria Cross-Dressing
By vanrozenheim
(Nigeria) - Police in northern Nigeria have clashed with Muslim mob angry at a Sharia court's decision to grant bail to 18 men accused of "dressing as women". For about 30 minutes, the protesters held up traffic on Bauchi's main street chanting slogans saying the accused men had been let off lightly. Riot police fired teargas to disperse them, a BBC reporter in the north-eastern city says. Trial judge Tanimu Abubakar freed five of the 18 men who met bail conditions. The other 13 have been sent back to prison. The men all pleaded not guilty to charges of "indecent dressing" and "vagrancy" and were granted bail after they paid 20,000 Naira ($158) each. But some thugs who gathered outside the court premises felt the men did not deserve bail and began hurling stones at the court house.
