Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- The court of first instance of Tiznit sentenced last Monday two young men to 18 months in jail each, in addition to a 2,000 dirhams fine for “homosexuality acts.”
The case was triggered when one of the two, a 20-year-old young man, originally from Casablanca but living in Tiznit, filed a complaint against another man for “threatening to kill him with a knife.”
However, during a hearing with police officials, the man who took the case to court initially revealed that he was formerly in a gay relationship with the man who threatened to end his life.
The 20-year-old also revealed, during the same hearing with police officials, having had a couple of homosexual relationships with some well-known personalities from Tiznit, even though he later on retracted his words in court.
It is worth reminding that homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Morocco, with article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code criminalizing “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex.”
Homosexuality acts in the North African kingdom can be punished with anything from 6 months to 3 years imprisonment and a fine of 120 to 1200 dirhams.
The Moroccan Times.
