NEWS Gay group says Banana does not qualify for political asylum in South Africa December 4, 1998 JOHANNESBURG - The National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality on Friday said it did not believe that fugitive former Zimbabwe president, Canaan Banana, should qualify for asylum on the basis of discrimination against his sexual orientation. In a statement, Coalition spokeswoman Josie Abrahams said Banana had always denied he was homosexual or had consensual sex with men. "It will be an insult to the mass of lesbian and gay people in Zimbabwe who have been persecuted by the regime of which Banana was a part, to grant him asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation," said Abrahams. The Coalition said it would defend the right to political asylum of any lesbian or gay person who was persecuted on account of their sexual orientation, but would not allow this to be abused. She appealed to President Nelson Mandela to treat Banana no differently from other asylum-seekers. Banana skipped Zimbabwe into Botswana and then into South Africa last week just before the Zimbabwe High Court convicted him on 11 counts of sodomy. Abrahams said neither the Court record nor the judgment was available to the Coalition to comment on the merits of the Banana case, the nature of the evidence before the Court or the fairness of the trial. "It is ironic that Banana who has been part of an oppressive regime which massacred people in Matabeleland, persecuted trade union activists and remained silent while Robert Mugabe undermined democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe, should now seek asylum," she said. The Coalition called on people to join a picket at the Zimbabwean Consulate on December 10, the International Human Rights Day. -Sapa