‘Morocco pardons 30 Spaniards who should only have be repatriated’

Published on 6 August 2013 at 11:15

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A pardon, granted on July 30 by King Mohammed VI of Morocco to Daniel Galván, a Spanish citizen sentenced to 30 years for paedophilia, has prompted a wave protest in the north African country and also Spain, to the point where the king has now taken the unprecedented step of cancelling his decision.

Galván, who had returned to Spain, was re-arrested in Murcia in the southeast of the country on August 5. El País explains that in the wake of a visit from King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Mohammed VI granted pardons to 48 Spanish citizens detained in Morocco.

In the course of the visit, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs had presented Moroccan officials with two lists: one with the names of those for which Spain requested a royal pardon, and another, which included Galván, of detainees that should be allowed to serve their sentences in Spain. However, Morocco, apparently by mistake, opted to issue pardons for all of the prisoners.

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