BRITISH TOURIST JAILED ON GAY CHARGES IN MOROCCO

A 69-year-old British man has been jailed for being gay, while on holiday in Morocco.

According to Pink News, retired publisher Ray Cole was arrested after he went to Marrakesh last month to visit a Moroccan man, Jamal Jam Wald Nass.

The men were approached at a bus stop on September 18 by police officers and were detained on suspicion of being gay.

Cole was presumed missing for a week until it was discovered that he was in custody.

Police found photos of the two men, which were used in court to prosecute them. They were both sentenced to four months in a Marrakesh prison last Thursday.

Cole’s son Adrian, who is also gay, told Pink News: “The trial was a complete farce, it was just farcical. They’ve gone through his phone and found photographs that they’re using as evidence for a homosexual act.”

He said that his father was jailed under bleak conditions and is sleeping on the concrete floor of a cell housing 60 men.

Adrian warned gay tourists against visiting the country: “People don’t know how dangerous this place is. They’re a tourist driven economy. They rely on tourists like my father. They then decide to judge you and your life and may or may not treat you in this fashion.”

Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Morocco with penalties ranging from six months to three years in jail, as well as fines.