Marrakech- British citizen Ray Cole, aged 70, was arrested in Marrakech while on holiday, according to his son. His son said he had difficulty in getting any information from the police as to his whereabouts, according to an article in the British daily newspaper the Guardian.
According to media reports, police searched his mobile phone, email, and Facebook account. They found photographs on his mobile phone that they used to prosecute him in court.
Charlie Elphicke, a Conservative MP for Dover, branded the charges “medieval” and said it showed British tourists “were not safe in Morocco.”
The Guardian quotes him as saying “I have been doing all I can to help free Mr. Cole from these appalling charges. I am deeply concerned about his safety and it is clear that if you visit Morocco you are at serious risk of facing trumped up charges for medieval crimes. The message is clear – Morocco is not safe for British tourists.”
“I am gravely concerned by the state of Moroccan prisons, and the care and the safety he will have in jail,” Elphicke added. “I’m raising it with ministers, asking them to intervene more directly on his behalf. It is a shocking and appalling situation for a British national to be in and it is really important to get him back to the UK.”
The British Embassy said it was providing consular assistance.
Homosexuality and any sexual relations outside marriage are against the law in Morocco. The British Foreign Office and tourism organizations generally make it clear that homosexuals are not welcome in Morocco and are in danger from police sting operations. The legal system in Morocco is conducted in Arabic with poor translation, and it is impossible for the ordinary European tourist to understand.
Although homosexuality is legal in the West, it is not in Morocco. The Moroccan government is cracking down on tourists who come to Morocco with the sole purpose of engaging in sexual relationshipsThis incident shows the difference between what is legally permissible in the West based on international notions of human rights and what is legal in Islamic societies, which take a different moral standpoint.
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