Brit jailed in Morocco for being gay calls ordeal “hell on earth”

The British man jailed in Morocco for being gay has labelled his ordeal “hell on earth”.

Earlier this month (October 6), it was reported that 69-year-old Ray Cole had been arrested and sentenced to four months in prison after explicit images were found on his phone by Moroccan authorities.

He had travelled to the North African country to visit a Moroccan man, 22-year-old Jamal, whom he had met online six months earlier.

Cole was later released from prison after his family lodged an appeal with Moroccan authorities, and the 69-year-old Kent man has now spoken candidly about his experience in an interview with The Guardian.

“Straight away [there was] the insinuation that we were homosexual,” Cole said, recalling his initial arrest. “They said, ‘We’ve got religion here. You’re filth and scum.’ They did their best to humiliate us.”

“They went through everything – even my PayPal account. My personal life was examined forensically. It’s horrible. You just feel naked. They can do whatever they like. It’s a total police state,” he added.

Cole then described the cells at the Moroccan jail that he was sent to as “hell on Earth”.

“The stench from the toilet will live with me for ever. I was put in a cell that would later hold 50 or 60 people,” he recalled.  “The police sergeant came in and announced [to everyone] that I was a tourist who’d come to Marrakech to prey on young men.”

Cole went on to insist that his experience in Morocco hadn’t ruined his relationship with Jamal saying: “Meeting [him] has been the best thing that’s happened to me in years – even though I ended up going to hell for him, I’d go back to hell for him. I’ve discussed the age difference; he says he doesn’t think about it and nor do I. The only problem is in other people’s minds.”

Same-sex sexual activity is illegal Morocco, and those convicted can face up to three years in prison and a fine.