Traditionally Morocco's King Mohammed VI grants royal pardons on religious and national feasts. So on Tuesday the king signed a decree freeing 879 prisoners to celebrate the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) birth in 570 AD. Among those released are several Islamist militants arrested by Moroccan police for allegedly having planned suicide bomb attacks in the country.
A further 170 detainees may have their sentences cut, according to Moroccan security sources in the capital, Rabat. Some 30 prisoners have been linked to Islamic extremist groups. These include several people accused of membership of the al-Qaeda linked cell that carried out the 2003 Casablanca bombings which killed 45 people.
According to a communiqué from the ministry of justice, 114 inmates benefited from total pardon for the remaining period of their prison terms, while jail terms were commuted for 423 detainees.
Some 44 persons benefited from total pardon for the remaining period of their prison term, said the document, adding that 13 prisoners condemned to life imprisonment had their sentences reduced to a limited prison term.
The pardon also concerned 102 persons, while maintaining their fines. 170 people benefited from annulling the payment of their fines.
The prisoners' release may quell controversy over alleged human rights violations of Islamic terror suspects perpetrated by Moroccan security services, according to observers.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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