Family calls for retired magazine publisher to be released from prison and returned to UK.
ON SEPTEMBER 18, British holidaymaker and retired magazine publisher, Ray Cole, from Deal in Kent and his companion, Jamal Jam Wald Nass, were approached at a bus stop by police officers in Marrakech, Morroco and detained on the grounds of “suspected homosexuality”.
Police searched Jamal’s mobile phone and found a photograph of the two men together, which was used in court as ‘proof’ of homosexual acts.
Moroccan authorities failed to notify Ray’s family or the British Consulate of his arrest.
On October 2, both were sentenced to four months in prison.
His family feared he had gone missing after losing contact with him for a nearly a week when he was arrested.
Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke warns travellers that Morocco is unsafe for British tourists.
The Conservative MP told Pink News: “I have been doing all I can to help free Mr Cole from these appalling charges.
“I urge people not to visit Morocco. If you go there you are at serious risk of facing trumped up charges for medieval crimes.
“The message is clear: Morocco is not safe for British tourists.”
Ray Cole’s son Adrian, said: “It’s really rough, he’s in with people who have committed shocking crimes. He is being fed boiled vegetables once a day and his dorm, which is designed to sleep 44 men, is used by 60 – leaving him sleeping on a concrete floor. The Consulate tried to visit him but were initially turned way, and told he had refused to see them. But when we spoke to him, he didn’t know anything about it. He’s had a couple of minor strokes before and has a minor heart condition. He has also been suffering with depression, which the court didn’t take into account. Why they haven’t deported him no one seems to be able to be able to explain.”
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