The Ambassador of the Netherlands in Rabat, Ronald Gerard Strikker, said on Friday he was "saddened" by the recent convictions of two homosexual couples in Morocco, describing their prison sentences as an "anachronism".

"I am saddened by the fact that the Moroccan authorities have recently sentenced two homosexual couples (...) to prison terms of up to three years in prison," wrote Mr. Strikker on the Facebook page of the Dutch Embassy.

Contacted by AFP, Mr. Strikker confirmed that he was the author of the message, specifying that he had "nothing else to add".

On 20 May, two young Moroccans were sentenced to four months in prison for homosexuality by a court in Témara, near Rabat.

These two men, aged 28 and 20, had been arrested by the police at the beginning of May in Témara while they were together in a car. According to one of their lawyers, the prosecution has appealed this conviction.

In his message, the Dutch ambassador also alludes to the recent conviction of another couple in Souk al Arbaa, in the north of Morocco.

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.

"For me, it is an anachronism that homosexuality is still considered a crime in Morocco, almost 25 years after the decision of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to no longer consider it a disease," believes the Dutch diplomat.

"I hope that one day homosexuals in Morocco will be accepted as full citizens, who are neither sick nor criminals," he continues.