US Embassy slams Belgian university over suspension of researcher in Arday plagiarism case

The U.S. Embassy in Belgium has issued a strong condemnation of the University of Ghent's decision to suspend researcher Nathan Cofnas, who had raised accusations of plagiarism against the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday.

Ambassador Bill White declared on X, formerly Twitter, that the U.S. mission "condemns in the strongest terms the retaliatory measures taken by the University of Ghent against an American academic following his accurate reporting, as a whistleblower, on academic fraud." He added, "Dishonest and corrupt institutions, which engage in pack bullying behavior or reward it, are not desirable partners for us."

Cofnas had accused Jason Arday, a Black professor at the University of Cambridge who died in August 2026 at the age of 41, of plagiarism. Arday had resigned from Cambridge earlier in August amid the controversy. The University of Ghent announced it had opened a "preliminary disciplinary investigation" into Cofnas and suspended him from his post-doctoral research activities as a precautionary measure.

Ambassador White, a close associate of former U.S. President Donald Trump, argued that "the ultimate purpose of free speech is to overthrow lies, fraud, and false ideologies. This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and this is precisely why his home institution wants to silence him." The accusations against Arday, who had a remarkable life story transitioning from an autistic child to a Cambridge professor, sparked significant debate in Britain.

The University of Ghent stated its investigation aims to determine if there are sufficient grounds to proceed with a more thorough disciplinary review. The case has ignited passionate discussions regarding academic integrity, freedom of speech, and institutional responses to whistleblowing.