My father came out as gay a few years ago. He had been holidaying in Morocco with a Moroccan friend and has been arrested and charged with being gay. He has now been sentenced to 4 months in the central prison in Marrakech. 

On September 18 my father, Ray Cole, and his companion, Jamal Jam Wald Nass, were approached at a bus stop by police officers and detained on the grounds of suspected homosexuality. 

Police searched their mobile phones and found a photograph of the two men together, which was used in court as 'proof' of homosexual acts.

Moroccan authorities failed to notify the family or the British Consulate of his arrest.

On October 2, both were sentenced to four months in prison.

We feared he had gone missing after losing contact with him for a nearly a week when he was arrested.

We now know his situation and it's devastating. He's in a very bleak place. He's in a cell with people who have committed murders and raped. 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 - we're really worried about his health and desperately need him out of there. He has also been suffering with depression. 

No one seems to be able to explain why they haven't deported him back to the UK. 

We're calling on the UK Government to please step up do whatever it takes to get our dad out of there. Please help us.

#FreeRayCole