Two young Moroccans were sentenced on Monday to four months in prison for homosexuality by a court in Temara, near Rabat, one of their lawyers indicated to the AFP.

The two men, aged 28 and 20, were arrested at the beginning of May in Temara (north-west) by the police while they were together in a car. They were then placed in detention in Sale, near Rabat.

During the third hearing, on Monday, the two men refuted the facts they were accused of in the police report.

"We were in the car talking, nothing more. We didn't do anything illegal," one of them told the president of the court.

Article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code punishes any sexual act between two people of the same sex with six months to three years in prison.

"We declared to the judge that the report drawn up by the police, and signed by the two accused, contains inaccurate facts," the lawyer declared for his part.

"I will discuss tomorrow (Tuesday) with their family so that we can appeal this verdict," he added.

According to him, "there is no flagrant offence, and there has been no breach of public decency". "So the accusation is based on nothing. They were simply sitting in the car," affirmed this lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous.