Academic Freedom | Joint Statement Concerning the Situation of Dr Maâti Monjib

Historian, essayist, academic, journalist, and human rights defender, Dr Maâti Monjib has contributed, through his historical research, writings, his civic advocacies, and his commitment to freedom of the press, to building a space for critical reflection in which the contemporary history of Morocco, forms of power, authoritarian practices, and democratic issues could be publicly addressed. His work has been widely recognized by his peers.

Since 2015, Moroccan authorities have subjected him to numerous judicial proceedings based on accusations that many international human rights organizations have deemed arbitrary.^[1] In 2023, he was suspended from his post at Mohammed V University in Rabat, from which he no longer receives any financial support. Initially accused, alongside several journalists, of undermining state security through activities related to training and support for independent journalism, Dr Monjib has for years been trapped in an endless cycle of postponed hearings, summonses, administrative controls, and defamatory campaigns to which he has often responded by going on hunger strike.

Subsequently, the accusations expanded to alleged financial crimes and money laundering, as Human Rights Watch states in its report cited above, within a framework that appears consistent with an increasingly common strategy in many authoritarian contexts: punishing political and intellectual opposition through ordinary criminal prosecution, with the aim of morally delegitimizing critical figures while avoiding openly political trials.

In December 2020, Dr Monjib was arrested and imprisoned. His detention, as well as the freezing of his assets and bank accounts in Morocco, prompted broad international mobilization. Numerous organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, denounced the persecutory nature of the proceedings brought against him, as well as violations of the fundamental guarantees of a fair trial.

Over the course of these years, Dr Monjib has also been the victim of unlawful digital surveillance, smear campaigns orchestrated by media outlets close to the authorities, and ongoing restrictions on his professional and personal life.

Particularly serious have been the violations of his freedom of movement. We understand that Dr Monjib, a Franco-Moroccan citizen, has had his French passport unlawfully confiscated by the national authorities in Rabat, a measure constituting an extremely serious violation of his fundamental rights and his status as a dual national citizen. For more than six years, he has been prohibited from leaving Moroccan territory, as demonstrated by the latest attempt made by Dr Monjib on  March 30 and June 4, 2026 to travel to Europe to deliver lectures. This travel ban has had dramatic human, professional and family consequences: it has prevented him from freely practising his profession as a historian, in clear violation of his academic freedom. It also has prevented him from reaching France, where his wife and daughter live, separating him from his loved ones and subjecting him to a form of extrajudicial punishment; it has also prevented him from receiving adequate specialized treatment and monitoring for the chronic illnesses from which he suffers.

Although in July 2024 Dr Monjib, together with others, benefited from a royal pardon granted by King Mohammed VI, this measure did not put an end to his persecution or to the freezing of his own funds and those of his family. The pardon neither amounts to recognition of the injustice suffered nor to full rehabilitation. It leaves intact the mechanisms of intimidation, as demonstrated by the fact that he was prevented by the police from not only speaking at, but even entering, the Rabat International Book Fair on 2 May despite having purchased a ticket, and it does not erase the multiple restrictions that continue to affect his personal, professional, and civic life.

For this reason, we call upon the Moroccan authorities to:

- End all prosecutions and restrictive measures against Dr Monjib and fully restore his rights, particularly his freedom of movement;

 - Fully respect his academic freedom and his right to freedom of expression, and political criticism, including the right to criticize the Moroccan regime peacefully without fear of reprisals;

 - Reinstate him in university teaching and academic life, with full recognition of his role as a historian, teacher, and intellectual;

- Concretely guarantee in writing that he may travel freely to France to reunite with his wife and daughter and receive necessary medical care; in this regard, we call for the intervention of the French diplomatic authorities in Morocco.

We also call upon the French authorities to implement all political and diplomatic measures that would facilitate the full respect of the rights of a dual national citizen whose integrity, stature, and moral standing are internationally recognized.^[2]

The case of Maâti Monjib is an example of judicial and political persecution against a critical intellectual in the contemporary Maghreb. Defending Dr Monjib means defending principles that go beyond his individual case alone. It means affirming that no historian, academic, journalist, or intellectual should be aggressively pursued by the state because of their opinions. It means recalling that academic freedom cannot exist without political freedom, and that criticism of power constitutes an essential component of any democratic society.

We express our full solidarity with Dr Monjib, his family, and all those who, in Morocco, continue to defend—often at the risk of their own freedom—the right to free speech and expression, independent research, and justice.

Signed by the Committees on Academic Freedom of Société des Études sur le Moyen-Orient et les Mondes Musulmans, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Società per gli Studi sul Medio Oriente, and Middle East Studies Association.

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^[1] See Amnesty International’s appeal dated 5 January 2021, the Human Rights Watch report dated 28 July 2022  and the article published in Le Correspondant on 19 June 2026, which effectively summarises the stages of his legal journey.

^[2] See, in this regard, the solidarity campaigns of MENA, 25/11/2020, SeSaMO and ASAI, 01/02/2021, and MESA, 23/03/2021.