A UK man who was sentenced to four months in prison in Morocco for being gay has arrived back in the UK, after being released pending appeal.
Ray Cole, a retired publisher aged 69, was arrested on 18 September at a bus stop in Marrakech.
He was arrested alongside Jamal Jam Wald Nass, a local man in his 20s with whom the older man had struck up a relationship online several months previously.
This was Cole’s second visit to see Nass, and the two planned to spend five weeks together on a sightseeing tour of the country.
Whilst in custody, police say that they found photos on Cole’s phone that depicted ‘homosexual acts’. Homosexuality is illegal in the country and punishable with up to three years in prison, although such sentences are rare.
He and Nass were both sentenced on 4 October to four months in prison – a sentence that prompted immediate condemnation by Cole’s family and LGBT campaigners. Cole has a grown-up son and daughter from his previous marriage to a woman, but came out as gay several years ago.
The grandfather had an emotion reunion with his family when he arrived at London’s Gatwick airport last night, and told waiting reporters that he was ‘relieved’ to be free.
He said that he had not been told that he was being granted a conditional release, merely to collect all his belongings and to see the prison authorities.
‘I did not expect this at all – I thought I was going to be transferred to a different prison. They gave me a choice of staying in Morocco another night or getting the next flight back.
It’s thought that Cole, who has previously suffered from a heart condition and strokes, had to share a dormitory with up to 60 other prisoners, and had to sleep on the bare floor. He told his family that he survived on one daily serving of boiled vegetables.
‘It was a total nightmare. I’ve seen things I never thought existed.
‘You would not believe it, it’s horrendous. It’s not a prison it’s a concentration camp. People are in there from the age of 10 to 80 and 90s for nothing. I can hardly move my arm from sleeping on the floor.’
He praised his family for their support, saying: ‘I’m so proud of them – I could not have a better family.’
Son Adrian said, ‘We’ve had phone calls from all over the world. People have just been so concerned and that’s been a huge drive for us to keep going.’
‘We would like to express our gratitude as a family to the thousands of people who have offered us their support and kindness.’
However, it has not been confirmed whether Cole’s companion, Nass, has been released from prison.
African LGBTI organization Out and Proud Diamond Group is now organizing a demonstration to take place outside the Moroccan Embassy in London next Wednesday (15 Oct), to demand his immediate release and to call for a repeal of the Moroccan penal code the criminalizes homosexuality.
They are hoping to maintain awareness about Nass’s plight online with the #freeJamWaldNass hash tag.