Instagrammer jailed for being gay in Qatar
By Josh Lee
A Polish Instagram star has said that he was arrested and jailed for two months in Doha for being gay.
Instagram star Luxy has been getting a lot of press recently after he spoke to Gay Star News about his arrest in Qatar. He told the publication that he was arrested in Doha Hamad Airport for cyber crimes, indecency and being gay.
It was the second time the social media star had visited the country from Poland. He told GSN that they detained him as there was problems with his visa.
‘They took me to the interview room and kept asking me questions about why I came here. They took my phone and started scrolling through my Whatsapp conversations and pictures,’ He told Gay Star News.
Going on to say, ‘They kept telling me I am a prostitute, I am from a bad family and they laughed at my Instagram photos. They told me some Qatari guy made the request to arrest me because I put his naked photo on Instagram.’
‘My lawyer said if the person who made the fake claims will not drop the charges, I could face a prison sentence of up to two years, because the investigation was on my phone, and the fact that I know many gay people in Qatar and have many forbidden pictures (for this country) it’s all showing me in a bad light.’
He was arrested for over two months and finally released with a fine of $4,100.
Apparently the police also asked him to work with them to lure other gay men and get them arrested. Luxy refused.
Luxy has also spoken to Buzzfeed where he gave them arrest documents. They didn’t say why he was arrested, only said that he was held in confinement. However, in the gender box of the document they put “N/A”.
Since speaking out, the Polish embassy in Doha told Buzzfeed news in a statement that Luxy wasn’t arrested for being gay:
“A Polish national nicknamed Luxy, aged 18, was detained at Hamad International Airport in Doha on 06 July 2016 on a charge of money extortion, blackmail and assault on a Qatari national’s privacy on line (cyber-related offense) – not of being homosexual or due to a minor visa irregularities. His arrest has not been reported to the Polish consular services by the Qatari Police (which is by and large a standard practice in Qatar), until the detainee’s family information received a week after the actual detention. Polish consular service has never reported Mr Luxy missing.
I visited the detainee in jail (remand over Criminal Investigation Department, not a prison) several times and found the arrest conditions decent and correct, what was also the opinion of the detainee. No irregular behaviour of any Police officer was reported to me by the detainee.
Eventually “Luxy” was released in mid-August on bail and allowed to leave Qatar national territory although, to my knowledge, the investigation is still underway.”
Luxy hasn’t spoken out about the differences between his version of events and that of the embassy. He said has that as the case is still on going he doesn’t want to talk about it incase it out his family at risk.
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