HUMAN rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has branded the Foreign Secretary “shameful” for his stance on the World Cup in Qatar.
James Cleverly provoked a furious backlash after urging LGBT supporters to be “respectful of the host nation” during the tournament, which is being held in a country where homosexuals can face the death penalty.
And gay rights activist Mr Tatchell hit out today, after he was arrested in the Arabian State for a protest over next month’s tournament.
Speaking to GB News from Sydney, Mr Tatchell said: “’I staged a protest for LGBT+ rights outside the National Museum of Qatar in the capital city of Doha.
“Then after about 35 minutes, state security officials and police arrived. I was put in detention. I wasn’t locked up or anything, but I was held on the curbside and not allowed to leave.
“Then they spotted that my colleague, Simon Harris from the Peter Tatchell Foundation was taking photos. Fortunately, he was able to upload some already. So some did get out. We were then subjected to about 40 minutes of interrogation about what we were doing. And then eventually much to my surprise, we were released, but told that it was in our interest to go to Qatar Airport and leave the country, which is what we did.”
Commenting on Mr Cleverly’s comments, Mr Tatchell told Gloria De Piero and Mark Longhurst: “How can anyone with any conscience respect the dictatorship? Because that is what Qatar is. It’s a police state. There’s no right to protest, no freedom of expression. This is one of the worst tyrannies and people who protest normally are locked up in jail. The only reason I got away with it was because I had a British passport. I had the intervention of the British consular staff. And, of course Qatar does not want any bad adverse publicity in the route to the World Cup. If I’d done this protest after the World Cup when the international media had disappeared, I think the outcome might have been quite different. And of course for Qatari people they are at much greater risk.
“I think it’s absolutely shameful that the Foreign Secretary wants us to respect that regime and he’s focusing on getting the fans to respect the regime, not on the regime protecting human rights abuses against LGBT plus people, particularly against women and migrant workers.
“In contrast to Keir Starmer, James Cleverly is saying that he is going to the World Cup, and that is collusion with tyranny. It’s exactly what the Qataris want, they want our politicians to go there.
“First of all, I think all fans should boycott the World Cup because it’s giving kudos and credibility to the regime. But if they go, yes, make some kind of symbolic statement.
“The best thing people can do, who can’t go, is to use their social media platforms to shine a light on the human rights abuses in Qatar. That’s what we need. We don’t need to give that regime the PR victory they want. They want our politicians and fans to go there and they will claim it is an endorsement of their regime.”
