A prominent LGBT activist has allegedly been held hostage and raped by an American who said he was angry about Donald Trump being mocked in France.
Zak Ostmane, a 35-year-old who came to France as a refugee after coming out as gay in Algeria, is a leading figure in the LGBT rights movement locally. He co-founded Shams-France group, an organisation which helps LGBT people who have come to France as refugees from countries in the Middle East for their own safety.
Mr Ostmane alleges that he was dancing at a bar in Marseille when his drink was spiked by two men, one of whom was American and the other was English, Pink News reports. He says the men subsequently took him to a hotel room against his will, where he was held hostage and raped.
He said: “One of them tore a sheet and tied my ankles and my wrists. I was kicked in the face and the chest. Then I was smashed against the wall and my nose was struck, there was blood everywhere... One of them went out and the other gave me a punch in the face, then sodomised me.
“I feel to the ground, I shouted with all my might, but one of the men took out a large knife and told me to be silent, otherwise he was going to kill me.”
He said that the American told him: “You people... you hate Trump. And you listen to black and Arabic music.”
Mr Ostmane says his ordeal ended when a police car drove past and he shouted out to alert the officers to him. They attended the scene and two arrests were made.
Images posted to social media, said to be of Mr Ostmane following the alleged incident show him with two black eyes and multiple cuts to his face, in what appears to be a hospital room.
In a statement, Shams-France said: “We strongly condemn this barbaric action and our thoughts are with our dear friend.”
