A man jailed for creating a spoof Facebook profile has been released from prison in Morocco. Casablanca IT engineer Fouad Mortada, 26, was given a fine and three year prison sentence last month for setting up a fake profile of the King’s brother on the social networking site.

He has now been given a royal pardon, cleared of imitating Prince Moulay Rachid. Mortada claimed he was merely paying tribute to the prince - well, he was attempting to attract some romantic attention at least. And in any case, there are thousands of profiles for well-known people on the site.

According to Helpfouad.com - a website set up to petition for Mortada’s release - the young IT engineer has also said that he was slapped, beaten, spat upon and insulted by security forces.

A Facebook group was also set up campaigning for his release, while several freedom of speech campaign groups also condemned his incarceration.