MAMBA
Original Article: bit.ly/1Eseiy2
According to the organisations, a court in the Moroccan Mediterranean city of al Hoceima convicted the men of sodomy in a very brief trial held only five days after their December 13, 2014 arrest.
They were convicted based on “confessions” the police claim the defendants made in pre-trial detention but that the defendants repudiated before the judge. The court called no witnesses to testify. An appeals court upheld the sentence on December 30.
“The combination of a state that enforces sodomy laws, a justice system that denies a fair trial, and the social stigma attached to homosexuality is a formula for damaging people’s lives,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa Director.
The appeals court upheld the conviction for committing a “deviant sexual act with a member of the same sex” and “public indecency”, but reduced the sentences for both men from three years in prison and a fine to six months for one and one year for the other, who was also convicted of attempted bribery for trying to get out of being arrested.
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