CALLS are mounting for a public inquiry into media coverage surrounding former Cambridge professor Jason Arday before his death.
Friends and family of the academic as well as public figures including Labour MP Diane Abbott and actress Jameela Jamil are among 30,000 signatories of a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The letter issued by group Good Law Project – which had been representing Arday after he stood down from his Cambridge role amid a plagiarism row – claimed Arday's death followed "two weeks of relentless harassment" by the media.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski, several Labour MPs, former England footballer Eni Aluko and broadcaster Carol Vorderman have also signed the statement.
Arday had resigned from his post as the professor of sociology of education last week after allegations of plagiarism were made against him.
He was pronounced dead after emergency services were called to an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday following reports that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property.
The organisation Stand Up To Racism has announced plans for a vigil in Arday’s memory.
It will be held on the steps of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, central London, at 6pm on Monday.
The group’s co-convenor, Weyman Bennett, said in a statement: “Jason Arday’s death is a tragedy – but make no mistake, it was the result of a racist witch hunt.
“For more than a week, the right-wing press, politicians and the far right have hounded Jason with the most vicious racism.
“They are spreading the far right lie that black people are only appointed because of the colour of our skin, rather than our ability.
“They have blood on their hands. Our thoughts are with Jason’s family, but we are furious with those who are to blame. Enough is enough.”
It comes after Prime Minister Andy Burnham described the professor’s death as a “tragedy” and called for a “moment of reflection”.
Burnham told reporters during a visit to Cornwall: “It’s a tragedy on so many levels, but particularly just for everybody who knew Jason, his family obviously, his friends. We think of them today.
“It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgment. It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this.
“A really sad, sad and sorry state of affairs and I think we all today think of Jason, his contribution, and his family and friends.”
In the hours before he died, Arday told University of Cambridge professor, and director of the Autism Research Centre, Simon Baron-Cohen that he “couldn’t go on”.
Baron-Cohen told the BBC: “He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life, and he wasn’t coping with the loss of his career, the loss of his reputation, and he felt he couldn’t go on.”
