Mohammed VI of Morocco
On February 5, 2012, Mohammed VI of Morocco pardoned Kettani along with other Islamists whom human rights groups believed had been unfairly jailed. Kettani's lawyer Ramid, who later became Morocco's Minister of Justice, referred to the pardon as an attempt by the government to hold out the olive branch for Islamists willing to make positive contributions to public life and shun extremism, comments with which Kettani concurred.