Moroccan King Mohammed VI has pardoned a 26-year-old man who was imprisoned for passing himself off as the monarch’s younger brother on Facebook.

A Justice Ministry official said Fouad Mourtada was released Tuesday from a prison in the town of Sale, near the Moroccan capital Rabat.

Mourtada, a state engineer, had been serving a three-year prison sentence handed down last month for “usurping” the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid on the popular online networking site.

The case had drawn an international outcry.

The ministry official said the pardon was one of 566 announced Wednesday by the king as part of a tradition of granting pardons on the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.