King Mohammed VI Pardons 25,000 Prisoners

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of his enthronement, King Mohammed VI of Morocco pardoned or reduced the sentences of 24,865 prisoners.

AFP File

Usually, the King does this each year just before the Feast of the Throne, as it is called. But to pardon nearly 25,000 prisoners makes it the largest number of royal pardons in Morocco.

According to reports, the monarch did “humanitarian considerations in allowing the prisoners back into society.” That included 517 women who were pregnant or had children, 137 minors, 659 foreign prisoners, plus 32 death row inmates. The latter received life in imprison rather than facing the death penalty.

Although Morocco still has capital punishment, though the last person to be executed was in 1994.

This North African kingdom will mark King Mohammed VI’s 10 years in power tomorrow, July 30th. The 45 year-old King ascended to the throne after the death of his father, King Hassan II.

Another major move King Mohammed VI made recently was acknowledging the Holocaust, where six million Jews were murdered. He called the genocide, “one of the most tragic chapters of modern history.” This statement comes after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the Holocaust ever happened.

The King also is endorsing the Aladdin Project, which aims to educate the Middle East about the Holocaust. One way it plans to do so is by translating “The Diary of Anne Frank” into Arabic and Farsi.