Morocco pardons 10,000

[sbs]

KING Mohammed of Morocco has pardoned or reduced the prison sentences of 10,000 people to mark the 50th anniversary of independence, Justice Ministry officials said.

It was the largest ever number of prisoners involved in a royal pardon, which is customary in the North African kingdom to mark national and religious holidays.
Local media said the widely expected move was also aimed at relieving the country's overcrowded prisons.

A total of 5000 prisoners will be released immediately and a further 5000 will have their sentences reduced, state news agency MAP said, quoting a statement from the Justice Ministry.

They included 336 foreigners and 25 detainees who had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

A senior ministry official said there were no Islamic militants jailed on terrorism charges among those pardoned. He had no details on the nationalities of foreigners affected.

"The list is drafted by the royal palace, it did not include any Islamists this time," he said.
Morocco's prisons are often criticised by local human rights groups over their desperate conditions, with 60,000 people held in a system designed for half that number.

Earlier this month, more than 100 Islamic militants, most of them jailed after suicide attacks in Casablanca two years ago, were released as part of a pardon to mark the end of Ramadan.

Morocco was a French protectorate from 1912 to 1955.

[razrif]

What a kind king

[vickyt]

Kind and lovely and fluffy...