Cross Dressers in Nigeria

The trial of 18 men accused of dressing up as women has started in a Sharia court in northern Nigeria. The 18 are charged with indecent dressing and vagrancy.

The men were arrested last year in a hotel room in the city of Bauchi. The men were originally accused of sodomy, which could lead to the death penalty under Sharia, but the charges were reduced.

Prosecutors read out a letter from New York based Human Rights Watch calling for the court to respect the men's right to "free association". The letter said the Nigerian government had signed up to two conventions that enshrined the right to free association and freedom from harassment.

Prosecutor Yusuf Adamu said HRW was "grossly misinformed" about the case and invited a representative of the organisation to attend the trial. He said that: Under Sharia law a man must dress like a man and woman must dress like a woman.

But prosecutors have asked the court to write a response to HRW which could now delay the case. The case was adjourned until further notice by the judge.

A Nigerian court has sentenced a man to 18 months in jail after he admitted he dressed up as a woman.

Uche Ndubuisi was arrested loitering around Lagos international airport. He pleaded guilty after women's clothes and makeup that belonged to him were brought in evidence.

The BBC's Umar Elleman in Lagos says at the time of his arrest last week police said he was trying to extort money from travellers.

Lagos is not a sharia state, but has recently seen police arrest women for wearing revealing clothes. Cross dressing in Nigeria is linked by authorities to homosexuality, which is illegal in the country.

Another 18 men face charges of vagrancy and indecent behaviour in the sharia-run northern state of Bauchi after they were arrested in a hotel allegedly dressed as women.