Morocco jails three men for homosexuality

Three men accused of homosexuality have been sentenced to three years in prison by a court in Morocco.

Two of the men, a mechanic in his 40s and a man in his 20s, were “caught in the act” in the mechanic’s workshop by police acting on a tip-off, AFP reports.

They were arrested and during their detention they said they had met through a mutual friend, who was also arrested, and admitted having sexual relations.

Hassan Ammari of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) told AFP the sentence was handed down on Friday (May 22) by a court in the city of Taourirt.

Moroccan authorities have declined to comment on the arrests. Though homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic north-African state, convictions under the legislation have historically been reasonably rare.

The sentence is the harshest Moroccan courts can issue for same-sex sexual relations, where article 489 of Morocco’s penal code states that any one found guilty of carrying out “a deviant act with a person of the same sex” can be jailed for between six months and three years or issued with a fine.

In March, Human Rights Watch called on Morocco to decriminalise homosexuality, saying that “criminalising consensual, adult homosexual conduct violates international human rights law”.

It noted that article 24 of Morocco’s 2011 constitution states that “all persons have the right to protection of their private life”.

“This right, absent in the previous constitution, should lead to the abolition of the law criminalising consensual same-sex conduct,” it said.

Last year, British man Ray Cole was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison after explicit images were found on his phone by Moroccan authorities.

Cole was later released from prison after his family lodged an appeal, describing the experience as “hell on Earth”.

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