Mexico university blocked from discussing plagiarism case

Associated Press
Updated ·1 min read
10

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s largest university said Friday it has been blocked by a court order from discussing the case of a Supreme Court justice accused of plagiarism.

The public National Autonomous University of Mexico said it regretted the injunction handed down earlier this week.

“The UNAM regrets and cannot agree with a judicial order that seeks to silence it and limit freedom and the right of the university community and the public to be informed,” the university said in a statement.

Supreme Court Justice Yasmín Esquivel has been tarnished by evidence a thesis she presented in the 1980s was a near-exact copy of one presented a year earlier.

A university council determined her thesis was an example of plagiarism. But the university has said it has no rules that would allow it to yank her degree or professional license.

Esquivel, a favorite of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has refused to step down from the court. She has denied any wrongdoing and claims the earlier thesis copied her later work.