Fez University Professor Cleared in Master’s Degree Corruption Case

During the appeal hearing, which took place on Wednesday, the court also accepted the appeal against the corruption charge, filed by the defense of the two other defendants in the case. The doctoral student, originally from Missour, will have to answer only for the offense of fraud, while his cousin, a secondary school teacher, will be prosecuted for participation in the fraud.

The Court of Appeal also ordered the reimbursement of the bail to the two main defendants, and decided to reject the request of the Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, which had constituted itself as a civil party in the case, for lack of competence.

A year ago, the criminal chamber of the court of first instance of Fez had sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams a university professor and coordinator of the Master’s degree in Law at the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences Dhar El Mehraz.

The judge had handed down a similar verdict against his colleague, a doctoral student who served as an intermediary in the case, while the cousin of the latter had been sentenced to 8 months in prison. A fourth defendant had received a lighter sentence of 2 months in prison with probation.

The facts date back to the eve of the 2018-2019 academic year. In an audio recording that had gone viral on social media, an intermediary offered a student to join the Master’s program for the sum of 40,000 dirhams.