Morocco King Revokes Pedophile Spy's Pardon

After mass protests, the king of Morocco has decided to revoke the pardon he granted to a Spanish pedophile—but the man has already left the country. Daniel Galvan Vina, who was two years into a 30-year sentence for raping 11 children aged between 4 and 14, was among 48 Spanish citizens pardoned by King Mohammed IV after a visit from Spain's King Juan Carlos, CNN reports. Dozens of people were injured when people protesting the royal pardon clashed with police. The king was not "informed on all gravity of the despicable crimes committed by this person," a statement on the royal website claims.

Galvan, a former official in the Iraqi military, worked as a spy during the rule of Saddam Hussein, according to reports in the Spanish and Moroccan media. He was apparently given a new name—and a new identity as a former professor of oceanography—by the Spanish secret service before he moved to Morocco in 2005, the Guardian reports. He fled Morocco as soon as he was pardoned and released, but may now have to serve the remaining 28 years of his sentence in a Spanish prison. (More Morocco stories.)