A royal gesture ahead of Eid — and for 20 who renounced terror, a second chance. King Mohammed VI has granted his royal pardon to 1,356 people convicted by various courts of the Kingdom, on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha 1447 AH — 2026 AD. The decision, announced by the Ministry of Justice, covers both detained and free individuals across a range of sentence types, from full pardons to fine annulments and commutations.
Of the 1,195 prisoners included, 1,180 benefited from a remission of imprisonment or confinement, 13 had their remaining prison terms pardoned in full, one had a life sentence commuted to a fixed-term sentence, and one had a death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Among those who were free at the time of the pardon, 78 had their fines annulled, 63 received a pardon on their prison sentence or its remaining term, and 15 had both imprisonment terms and fines annulled.
Twenty people convicted in cases of extremism and terrorism were included — after formally expressing their commitment to the Nation’s principles and revising their ideological views.
— Ministry of Justice statement · Rabat, 26 May 2026
Twenty extremism convicts included after renouncing terror
A distinct and notably sensitive category within this year’s pardon concerns 20 individuals convicted in cases of extremism and terrorism. Their inclusion followed a process of official review: each had formally expressed their commitment to the Nation’s principles and sacred values, its national institutions, and had revised their ideological views, explicitly rejecting extremism and terrorism. Of the 20, 12 had their remaining prison sentences pardoned, 6 received a remission of their custodial sentence, and 2 had both their fine and remaining prison sentence pardoned.