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| Ray Cole calls Morocco jail experience 'a total nightmare' | Ray Cole calls Morocco jail experience 'a total nightmare' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A British man released after being jailed for "homosexual acts" in Morocco has called the experience a "total nightmare" as he returned to the UK. | |
| Ray Cole, from Kent, flew back into Gatwick Airport after spending 20 days in jail in Marrakesh. | Ray Cole, from Kent, flew back into Gatwick Airport after spending 20 days in jail in Marrakesh. |
| Mr Cole, 69, said: I've seen things I never knew existed. It's not a prison, it's a concentration camp." | Mr Cole, 69, said: I've seen things I never knew existed. It's not a prison, it's a concentration camp." |
| He was detained, along with his friend Jamal Jam Wald Nass, when police found "homosexual images" on his phone. | |
| Foreign Office guidelines state that homosexuality is a crime in Morocco. | Foreign Office guidelines state that homosexuality is a crime in Morocco. |
| Speaking to reporters at Gatwick, Mr Cole said that when prison staff spoke to him, he initially thought he was being transferred to another jail. | |
| 'Horrendous conditions' | |
| "But then they said they were sending me home," he said. | |
| "And they offered me the choice of spending the night in Marrakesh or getting the next flight [home]." | |
| He said prison conditions were "horrendous", with inmates as young as 10 and as old as 90 being held "for nothing". | |
| "I can hardly move my arm now, from 20 nights sleeping on the floor - I just want to go home and sleep in a soft bed," he continued. | |
| He said he had no idea about the campaigning for his release carried out by his family, who said they were "ecstatic" about his return. | |
| "I'm so proud of them - I couldn't have a better family," Mr Cole added. | |
| He said the attitudes to homosexuality in Morocco "are about 100 years out of date". | |
| "One guy who I chatted with suggested I could possibly take tablets and it would be all right," he explained. |