Ray Cole's family received the great news that he had been released from a Moroccan prison on Oct. 7 after being imprisoned for being gay. The British retiree had been arrested for being gay alongside a gay Moroccan national almost a month ago.

Cole, 69, was released by Moroccan authorities on Tuesday and returned to the U.K. where he was reunited with his family, according to the Telegraph. Cole told British media about his experience in Marrakesh's prison and the penitentiary's awful conditions.

"I've seen things I never knew existed. It's not a prison, it's a concentration camp," Cole said. "I can hardly move my arm now from sleeping on the floor for 20 nights. I just want to get home and sleep in a soft bed."

"Prisoners are aged from 10 to their 80s and 90s. It's been a total nightmare and I won't be going back," he added.

Moroccan authorities arrested Cole and his friend Jamal Jam Wald Nass, 20, at a bus stop in the Moroccan capital on Sept. 18, reports NBC News. Police searched Cole's cell phone in which they found a photo of the two together and used them to charge the men with homosexual acts, a criminal offense in the Muslim North African kingdom. Cole had been sentenced with four months in prison.

However, an avid online campaign started by his son Adrian, 41, and Cole's family raised awareness about his father's plight. According to the BBC, the Cole family started a Facebook page and the hashtag #freeraycole.

The campaign brought Cole's plight to members of Parliament. 

MP Charlie Elphicke, who represents Cole's home district, told Pink News he condemned Cole's incarceration, adding: "I have been doing all I can to help free Mr. Cole from these appalling charges."

However, Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley, played a key role in Cole's release. The openly gay Tory told Pink News he used his position as parliamentary friend of Morocco to facilitate Cole's release.

"I spoke to the deputy ambassador, and things started to move pretty quickly from then on in," he said, adding he would visit Morocco again. Yet, he said he hoped Morocco's laws would change.

"I'd love to see some change to the laws because clearly gays in Morocco are suppressed -- but [Ambassador] Princess Lalla Salma, who is related to King Mohammed VI, has turned wonders," Evans said.

Following Cole's release, the Moroccan Embassy in the U.K. released a statement reiterating homosexuality's criminality in the Muslim nation, according to the Independent.

There has been no confirmation on whether Jam Wald Nass was also released.