The family of a British tourist jailed in Morocco for being gay are campaigning for his release.
Ray Cole, a retired magazine publisher from Deal in Kent, was arrested last Thursday and given a four-month sentence for "homosexual acts".
His son Adrian Cole told Sky News that his father had been in Morocco for about four weeks when he "suddenly vanished, the Facebook updates stopped, we couldn't reach him on his phone".
While his family looked for him with Interpol and the Foreign Office, Mr Cole managed to use the phone of a fellow inmate to communicate that he was in prison.
Adrian Cole said his father and a friend were waiting at a bus stop when they were approached by police and asked why they were together.
"They accessed my father's phone, and inside one of the folders they found a photograph that they said was compromising," he said.
"Based on that, they were charged with homosexuality."
He said his father, who came out as gay a few years ago, was respectful of Morocco's laws and that he is a "very discreet" person.
Adrian Cole said his father has been sleeping on the floor in a crowded jail, and that the conditions are starting to take a toll on the 70-year-old.
The family plan on launching an appeal.
"Our hope is that they (Moroccan authorities) would see fit to simply remove him from the country," he said.
They have also launched an internet campaign, with a Facebook page calling for his release and a #freeraycole hashtag set up on Twitter.
Former deputy speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans said he would talk to the Moroccan ambassador and ask her "to convey to His Majesty a plea from the gay community in the UK to release this man in order that he can return to the UK as soon as possible".
"I deplore the fact that Mr Cole is spending any time in a jail there," Mr Evans, a gay MP, told Pink news.
"I call upon MPs from Morocco to look again at the way they are treating gay people.
"Do they really want their country associated with such archaic laws, and do they really think it is wise to lock someone up for four months for something that is legal in so many countries around the world?"
A Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed the detention of a British citizen in Morocco and said they are providing consular assistance.
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