Revolution of the King and the People: King Grants Royal Pardon to 935 People

Marrakech – In what has become a tradition with every major national and religious occasion, the Moroccan monarch issues a royal pardon to hundreds of people, this time to mark the anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Justice, King Mohammed VI granted the pardon to 935 people condemned by various courts across the North African kingdom.

The beneficiaries fall into two groups. Of the total, 807 are in detention, while the remaining 128 are at liberty and not in custody.

Among the detainees, 796 received a remission of their prison sentence. Another 8 were pardoned on the remainder of their term. For three others, the King commuted a life sentence to a fixed term.

The group at liberty was treated along similar lines. A total of 73 people were pardoned on their fine, and 34 on their prison sentence or its remainder. Another 12 saw their prison term lifted while the fine remained in place, and 9 were pardoned on both the prison sentence and the fine.

The pardon coincides with the 73rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People, a central episode in the country’s modern history. The commemoration recalls August 20, 1953, when colonial authorities forced Sultan Mohammed V and the royal family into exile, a move meant to break the bond between the throne and the people.

That decision produced the opposite effect. Resistance intensified across the country, and the armed struggle of the Liberation Army began in the north on October 1, 1955. Facing mounting pressure, France released the sovereign and his family on November 16, 1955.

Independence followed, along with the gradual recovery of Moroccan territory. Tarfaya returned in 1958 and Sidi Ifni in 1969. The Green March led by King Hassan II drove the last foreign soldier from Morocco’s Western Sahara on February 28, 1976, and the province of Oued Eddahab was recovered on August 14, 1979.

The wider national struggle traces back to battles such as Anoual in the Rif between 1921 and 1926 and the opposition to the 1930 Berber Dahir.

This year’s commemoration again places that history before younger generations, drawing on its lessons of national unity.