King Mohammed VI of Morocco has granted a royal pardon to Belgian-Moroccan Abdelkader Belliraj, who was serving a life sentence for allegedly leading a radical network, his family confirmed on Monday.
Belliraj was sentenced in 2009 after being accused of masterminding a network of 35 people dismantled by Moroccan authorities a year earlier. He was also charged with committing six murders in Belgium during the 1980s and 1990s—allegations he consistently denied. His trial faced criticism from rights groups over alleged violations.
“My husband received a royal pardon and left prison last night,” Belliraj’s wife, Rachida Hatti, told AFP.
The pardon was part of a broader royal amnesty granted to 31 prisoners convicted of “extremism and terrorism” charges, according to Morocco’s justice ministry. The statement, which did not disclose individual names, said those pardoned had “reviewed their ideological orientations and rejected extremism and terrorism.”
In total, 1,533 convicts—both imprisoned and free—received pardons to mark Eid al-Fitr, a common occasion for clemency in Morocco.
