{"id":16038,"date":"2026-08-25T15:31:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/mohammed-vi-pardons-634-as-moroccan-crime-surges-in-europe\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:31:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:31:47","slug":"mohammed-vi-pardons-634-as-moroccan-crime-surges-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/mohammed-vi-pardons-634-as-moroccan-crime-surges-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohammed VI Pardons 634 as Moroccan Crime Surges in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ministry of Justice in Rabat announced the decision on August 24, timed to coincide with Eid Al Mawlid Annabawi, the celebration marking the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, according to Brussels Signal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Of the 634 individuals pardoned, 619 were covered under the main royal decree, the ministry confirmed. Among these, 462 were currently detained in Moroccan prisons. Court documents show that 449 inmates received reduced sentences while 13 were granted full pardons for the remainder of their prison terms.<\/p>\n

Terrorism Convicts Released After Renouncing Extremism<\/h2>\n

The 15 individuals convicted in terrorism and extremism cases received clemency only after formally declaring their loyalty to Morocco’s national principles, sacred values, and institutions. Officials stated these offenders had revised their ideological positions and renounced extremism through the Moussalaha, or Reconciliation, program.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2017, this prison deradicalisation initiative operates on a voluntary basis and regularly feeds participants into the pardons issued on religious and national holidays throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Mass Crossing Into Ceuta Complicates Spanish Courts<\/h2>\n

The timing of the pardons has raised concerns as Spanish authorities continue processing the legal cases of Moroccan nationals who entered Ceuta on July 30. On that single day, approximately 72,000 people crossed into the Spanish enclave. Spanish government figures indicate about 73,000 were returned, though local officials in Ceuta say thousands remain within the city.<\/p>\n

During reinforced border checks, the Guardia Civil detained a man with a criminal record for terrorism and other offenses who was subject to an Interpol arrest warrant. He remains in custody while extradition proceedings are evaluated.<\/p>\n

The Andalusian High Court of Justice has recorded nine remands in custody among those who arrived on July 30. The charges include two for sexual assault, five for attacks on law enforcement officers, one for aggravated injuries, and one for drug trafficking. Two additional individuals were ordered expelled, one for groping a woman and another for unlawfully entering a private residence.<\/p>\n

Bedroom Intruder Case Dominates Spanish Coverage<\/h2>\n

That second expulsion case has dominated Spanish media attention. A 20-year-old Moroccan man who crossed into Ceuta on July 30 climbed onto a fifth-floor balcony in the city center on August 7 and entered the bed of a sleeping 62-year-old woman.<\/p>\n

The intruder<\/strong> admitted unlawful entry at a fast-track hearing the following day and received a 16-month sentence, which was set aside in favor of immediate expulsion and a five-year ban on returning to Spain. Police records presented to the court revealed he was already subject to a 10-year entry ban and an earlier expulsion order issued in Valencia. His file included previous sexual assault offenses.<\/p>\n

Emergency calls in Ceuta have surged tenfold to approximately 200 per day following the mass incursion.<\/p>\n

Swiss Data Reveals Shocking Crime Rates Among North African Asylum Seekers<\/h2>\n

Data from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration paints a stark picture of criminal behavior among North African asylum applicants. Statistics show that 80.5 percent of asylum seekers from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia were recorded as accused in criminal proceedings, compared to just 12.3 percent of applicants from all other countries of origin.<\/p>\n

Approximately 99 percent of Maghreb asylum claims are refused, Swiss newspaper Blick reported. Bern has signed an agreement with Rabat to accelerate deportations and is considering wider use of coercive measures to enforce returns.<\/p>\n

In Germany, foreign nationals comprise close to half of the prison population, with that figure reaching 58.9 percent in Berlin alone.<\/p>\n

Morocco Empties Prisons at Unprecedented Rate<\/h2>\n

While European nations struggle with rising crime rates linked to North African offenders, Rabat continues to empty its own detention facilities at remarkable speed. The royal pardons rest on King Mohammed VI’s constitutional power of clemency and are issued several times annually.<\/p>\n

In July, the monarch pardoned 1,788 people on Throne Day, followed by a further 935 pardons on August 20 to mark the anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People. Combined with the latest announcement, that totals more than 3,300 pardons in just five weeks.<\/p>\n

This aggressive clemency policy operates alongside a Moroccan penal code that remains considerably harsher than European legal frameworks in several key areas. While no execution has been carried out since 1993, the 1962 criminal code still provides for capital punishment across dozens of offenses, and courts continue to impose death sentences. Some 86 individuals remain under sentence of death, with that number reduced primarily through royal pardons.<\/p>\n

Sex outside marriage carries prison terms of one month to one year under article 490, while adultery carries one to two years. Terrorism convictions have resulted in sentences of up to 30 years.<\/p>\n

EU Deepens Cooperation Despite Rising Concerns<\/h2>\n

Despite the pattern of mass releases and cross-border incidents, the European Union has continued expanding its cooperation with Rabat. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong> wrote to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/strong> on August 3 offering further support in dealing with migration pressures.<\/p>\n

The juxtaposition of Morocco’s rapid prison emptying through royal pardons and the subsequent appearance of convicted Moroccan offenders in European criminal proceedings raises fundamental questions about the effectiveness of current migration agreements and border security arrangements.<\/p>\n

With information from Brussels Signal<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI pardoned 634 convicted individuals, including 15 terrorism offenders, days after 72,000 Moroccan nationals attempted to cross into Spain’s Ceuta enclave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":16037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[10514,12293,12295,1202,12294,630,3318],"nfg_topic":[135],"class_list":["post-16038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ceuta","tag-king-mohammed-vi","tag-moroccan-crime","tag-morocco","tag-royal-pardons","tag-spain","tag-terrorism","nfg_topic-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16038"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=16038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}