Defence lawyers for the 22 Moroccans who have been in prison since the incident with the Air Arabia Maroc plane at Palma Son Sant Joan Airport in November last year have requested their release.
The justification for this request is reform of the Penal Code which will eliminate the crime of sedition and replace it with a lesser offence of aggravated public disorder. Sedition is the most serious crime with which the Moroccans were charged following the plane's unscheduled landing at the airport for what proved to be a faked medical emergency. They "escaped" from the plane after it had landed. The majority were arrested in the hours that followed; others some days or weeks later.
On Thursday, Spain's Congress approved the parliamentary route for the legal reform. The 22 are otherwise charged with coercion (of the plane's crew and other passengers) and facilitating illegal immigration.