Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on
Friday rejected the results of his country's presidential elections.
Jammeh initially accepted the results
of the December 1 election and reportedly called opposition candidate
Adama Barrow to concede.
According to the AP, Jammeh reversed
course in a televised speech in which he claimed voting
irregularities and called for new elections.
“I hereby reject the results in
totality,” Jammeh
said. “Let me repeat: I will not accept the results based on
what has happened.”
Jammeh took power in a 1994 military
coup and has a long history of homophobic remarks.
Last year, he threatened to slit the
throats of gay men: “If you do it [in Gambia], I will slit your
throat. If you are a man and want to marry another man in this
country and we catch you, no one will ever set eyes on you again, and
no white person can do anything about it.”
“Homosexuality is anti-God,
anti-human, and anti-civilization,” he said in 2013. “Homosexuals
are not welcome in the Gambia. If we catch you, you will regret why
you are born. … Allowing homosexuality means allowing satanic
rights.”
In 2008, he warned that he would “cut
off the head” of gays found in his country.
Barrow's views on LGBT rights are not
known.