Mohammed VI pardons 1,434 people on the occasion of Eid Al Adha

On the occasion of Eid Al Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, granted a pardon to 1,434 people, 1,189 of them imprisoned.

Eid Al Adha coincides with the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the most important worldwide activities in the Muslim calendar, and with this celebration also came the traditional pardon offered by the Alawi monarch. 

According to a statement by the Ministry of Justice, reported by the official Moroccan news agency MAP, in the case of those pardoned in prison, six of these prisoners have had their life sentences commuted to a lesser term of imprisonment, 171 others have had their remaining prison time pardoned, and 1,012 have had their sentences reduced. 

The rest of those pardoned, 245 people, are free and in some cases the prison sentence has been pardoned, in others the prison sentence has been pardoned but the fine remains, and in others both the prison sentence and the fines have been pardoned. 

These measures of grace by King Mohammed VI generally coincide with religious or national holidays and are a prerogative of the monarch, which he can apply according to various criteria and at his will. 

The people who have been pardoned this year had been sentenced by different courts in the Kingdom, as confirmed by the Ministry of Justice, according to the MAP agency.

Of the 1,189 prisoners who have been pardoned, they are divided as follows:

• Pardon for the remainder of the prison sentence or imprisonment for the benefit of 171 detainees.
• Reduction of the prison or prison sentence for the benefit of 1,012 detainees.
• Commutation of life imprisonment to time-limited imprisonment for 6 prisoners.

As noted above, the beneficiaries of the royal pardon who are at liberty are 245 persons, distributed as follows:

• Pardon on the prison sentence or its remainder for the benefit of 86 persons.
• Pardon of the prison sentence with maintenance of the fine for the benefit of 19 persons.
• Pardon on prison sentence and fine for the benefit of 3 persons.
• Pardon on the fine and the remainder of the prison sentence for the benefit of one person. 

On the other hand, King Mohammed VI performed the Eid Al-Adha prayer in the Hassan II mosque in Tetouan, as Commander of the Believers, that is to say, supreme representative of the Muslims and responsible for the peaceful coexistence of the various religions in the Kingdom. After the Eid prayer, the imam present stressed in his homily the profound meanings of Eid Al Adha, which marks the end of the first ten days of Di Al Hijja, during which Muslims strengthen their faith in God and thank Him for the many blessings He has bestowed on them.

This festival reflects the unity of the Ummah and embodies the values of solidarity, compassion and mutual aid that constitute the very essence of moderate Islam, as the imam pointed out, specifying that Eid Al Adha is an invitation to coexistence and tolerance within the framework of a society where peace, security and prosperity reign, as detailed by MAP agency.