A court in Agadir has convicted two professors who publicly denounced alleged academic plagiarism at the National School of Applied Sciences (ENSA), sentencing them to six-month suspended prison terms and ordering them to pay compensation.
The Agadir Primary Court ruled Monday against professors Hicham Miftah and Abdenabi Abnaou, finding them guilty of “disseminating false allegations and defamatory claims” under Article 447 of the Moroccan Penal Code.
In addition to the suspended sentences, the court ordered each professor to pay a fine of 5,000 dirhams ($490) and 100,000 dirhams ($9,800) in damages to the plaintiff.
The case stems from the professors’ efforts to expose what they described as a case of scientific plagiarism during a promotion process for a colleague at Ibn Zohr University.
The two academics had staged protests outside the university and faculty offices and submitted formal complaints to the Ministry of Higher Education, the university’s presidency and the faculty dean, calling for an investigation into what they said was a breach of academic integrity.
Instead, a lawsuit was filed against them in April, leading to case No. 5528/2102/2025 before the court’s criminal division.
According to the written judgment No. 12164, the court ruled that the professors were guilty of the charges, sentencing each to six months in prison, suspended, with financial penalties. The court also rejected the plaintiff’s other claims.
A source familiar with the case told Hespress that the defense intends to appeal the ruling.
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