Calls for an investigation into the "harassment" of a deceased former Cambridge academic

More than 31,000 people, including several MPs, have signed a petition urging British Prime Minister Andy Burnham to open a public inquiry into the media harassment allegedly suffered by the deceased academic Jason Arday, organizers said Sunday.

The petition was launched by the activist group "Good Law Project" after the discovery on Friday of the body of Mr. Arday, who three years ago was named the youngest black professor in the history of the University of Cambridge.

The group had been supporting Jason Arday since he resigned earlier this month from the university and his position as a member of Jesus College, after both institutions opened investigations into allegations of plagiarism and fabrication or exaggeration regarding his personal background.

Police indicated that his death was not considered suspicious at this stage, appearing to favour the theory of natural death or suicide and investigating to determine the cause.

"There is no doubt that the tragic death of Dr. Arday is the direct, foreseeable and anticipated consequence of media harassment," the Good Law Project wrote on its website.

"The color of her skin played a decisive role in this harassment," the group denounces.

The accusations against Mr. Arday, who was 41 at the time of his death, received extensive media coverage in the British press after another academic — Nathan Cofnas, who describes himself as a "racial realist" and was dismissed from his position at Cambridge in 2024 — said in July that he had discovered numerous instances of plagiarism in the work of the deceased.

British media and right-wing commentators have seized upon this controversy, claiming that Mr. Arday, who has denied the accusations, has unduly benefited from diversity, equality and inclusion policies.

The Good Law Project stated that "many signatories" of its campaign had "privately warned several media outlets that their relentless attacks on Dr. Arday risked driving him to suicide."

A vigil in tribute to the deceased academic is to take place on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, London.