Rabat - Tiznit trial court sentenced last Monday two young gay men accused of homosexuality to 18 months in prison and a fine of 2,000 MAD.

Rabat – Tiznit trial court sentenced last Monday two young gay men accused of homosexuality to 18 months in prison and a fine of 2,000 MAD.

The charges resulted after a 20-year-old from Casablanca who lives in Tiznit in southwestern Morocco went to the authorities to file a lawsuit against another person he claimed threatened him with knives.

After completing an investigation, the Royal Gendarmerie alleged that there was a secret homosexual relationship between the two young men that ended with threats of physical violence.

The Casablancan native revealed during police questioning that he had several homosexual relationships, mostly with men in Tiznit, but he retracted this confession once in court.

Article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code punishes sexual activities between people of the same sex by prison terms of six months to three years. It also asserts that sexual relations out of wedlock are punishable by Moroccan law.

In June 2015, a daily Moroccan Arabic-language newspaper reported that Moroccan authorities arrested 20 homosexuals and transgender individuals.