Following on from my post yesterday about #danielgate, in an unprecedented move, Mohammed IV, King of Morocco, has revoked his pardon of the Spanish pedophile Daniel Galvan.
This Agence France-Presse alert, translated to English reads:
ALERT – The King of Morocco cancels pardon the Spanish pedophile
RABAT – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has decided to withdraw the pardon granted to Spanish recidivist pedophile whose recent release led to protests in the kingdom, said Sunday evening the Royal Palace in a statement.
The king decided to withdraw from grace previously granted to certain Daniel Galvan Fina said the statement published by the official news agency MAP, citing a decision of an exceptional nature. While according to several media former inmate has left Morocco, it is stated that the Department of Justice should investigate with the Madrid-up to the withdrawal of this grace.
(© AFP / August 4, 2013 9:54 p.m.)
As Moroccan writer Laila Lalami (@LailaLalami) put it on Twitter: “Lessons of #DanielGate: 1. sustained popular pressure works. 2. the king fears embarrassment and doesn’t want to lose his political capital”… “The focus should be how to get this predator behind bars again. That is the only way to repair the damage done to his victims.”…”What happened in Morocco today is similar to what happened in March 2011—the king makes a quick concession to stop the momentum of protests”.
Whatever King Mohammed’s motives, it is a win-win for everyone.
And now the world also knows a little bit more about the exploitation of the children of Morocco, so the king has some work to do in protecting his most vulnerable subjects. But first he needs to successfully prove the legal validity of cancelling the royal pardon.
Update: Daniel Galvan has been arrested in Spain, and it is now understood it will be referred to the Spanish HIgh Court.
(Cover photo taken near Midelt, Morocco, in December 2009 — words on side of hill say ‘God, country, king’ — what you must respect to call yourself Moroccan).
Amy Feldtmann 
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