A gay French Jewish man jailed in Turkey for 20 years after he ordered a drug online that is widely used in Parisian nightclubs, unaware that it was illegal in the country, has been “raped, beaten and burnt” since he was put in prison.

Fabien Azoulay, 43, is the owner of a popular beauty spa in New York and his nightmare ordeal started when he decided to travel to Turkey to undergo a hair transplant in 2017. His stay in the country was to last a few days.

But the short trip ended up being extended for years after he logged online in his hotel room in Istanbul and ordered GBL, a drug that heightens the sex drive, which he said he did not know was banned in the country.

It was widely in use at the time in gay clubs in Paris, and he had not realised that it was a serious offence when it was delivered and immediately afterwards he was arrested by Turkish police as he collected the delivery.

He was held in the country and tried in 2018, receiving a 20-year prison sentence, later reduced to 16 years and 8 months on appeal.

His friend, David Benaym, who launched a petition to extradite him to France, said: “He has been the victim of abuse, torture and moral harassment.

“He has repeatedly expressed that they have tried to convert him, that he has been forced to pray five times a day.

“He has suffered violence because he is Jewish and because he is gay.”

His lawyer, Francois Zimeray, told Franceinfo: “He has been raped, beaten and burnt. He has been harassed because of his sexual orientation, particularly from radicalised inmates.

“One of his fellow detainees was even convicted of torture against him.”

Zimeray has claimed his client is suicidal, and he and Azoulay’s friends and family hope French President Emmanuel Macron will intervene.

The online petition calling for the repatriation of Azoulay, who owns a spa in New York, has been signed by over 105,000 people.

Zimeray hopes the tense relations between France and Turkey will not impede his client’s extradition.

He told BFMTV: “This person must not bear the brunt of a deteriorated relationship between states.”

The fight to bring Azoulay home continues.