(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-16 16:46

RABAT -- Six men were sentenced to jail terms for homosexual acts by a Moroccan appeals court, lawyers said.

Video images, leading to street protests and a police investigation, showed one of the six men dressed as a woman dancing at a party they held in the northern town of Ksar el Kebir.

The six were arrested in late November after rumors spread that the party was really an illegal gay wedding.

A lower court gave the six men jail sentences in December, but they had all pleaded not guilty.

Local media reported the story and Islamist groups described their acts as an attack on public morals and demanded police investigate the case.

Hundreds of angry residents held protests in Ksar el Kebir to demand "justice" and put pressure on the authorities to pass harsh sentences.

"Lewd or unnatural acts" between people of the same sex are crimes under Moroccan law and those found guilty face between six months and three years in jail and a fine of up to 1,000 Moroccan dirhams (130 US dollars).