Moroccan Professor Acquitted in University Sexual Harassment Case

The case had erupted in December 2021, after the publication on social networks of a screenshot of conversations on Messenger between the professor and a student. The court of first instance in Oujda had pronounced the acquittal of the professor, considering that "the evidence is absent and insufficient to establish his guilt with certainty", recalls Hespress.

For the court, the messages that the professor and the student would have exchanged do not constitute "admissible evidence" in the sense that "they could not be categorically attributed to the defendant". The court had also stressed that "the identity of the victim remained unknown throughout the criminal proceedings".

The professor had received disciplinary measures after the Ministry of Higher Education ordered an investigation commission at the school. He had been suspended from his duties on December 31, 2021 and disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against him before a disciplinary council.