The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, has pardoned a Moroccan journalist for Al Akhbar al Yaoum.
Hajar Raissouni was arrested on 31 August and received a one-year prison sentence from a court in Rabat.
The female journalist was jailed due to an illegal abortion and having sex outside marriage.
The King gave her a royal pardon as she and her partner desire to create a family together in accordance with Moroccan law. Additionally, the pardon was granted “despite the error they may have committed.” The Ministry of Justice made the announcement yesterday. They added that His Majesty did include Raissouni’s fiancé and the doctors and medical staff who performed the supposed abortion in his pardon.
Both Raissouni and her Sudanese fiancé have denied the abortion claims.
The Ministry explained in their press release that the royal pardon “falls within the framework of the mercy of His Majesty.”
Abortions and sex outside of marriage are illegal in Morocco and that led to their arrests.
Around 300 people protested the verdict from the Rabat court in early October while calling for individualism and condemning the prosecution of the journalist for abortion. The case got widespread national attention and even had international NGOs and human rights activists criticising the arrest and trial. They called for Raissouni’s immediate release.
