Vigil for Professor Jason Arday held in Edinburgh

A vigil was held for Jason Arday on Saturday afternoon, organised by Educators for Peace and supported by Stand Up to Racism and other organisations.

Professor Arday was the youngest black professor appointed by Cambridge in 2023. He was found dead in London on 14 August 2026, after weeks of media coverage of allegations of plagiarism in articles he wrote, as well as some of his other more practical achievements such as marathon running.

A small audience gathered on the grassy area outside The Scottish Parliament, with two MSPs were in the crowd – Q Manivannan and Kate Nevens – although they did not speak to the rally.

Many people did speak, beginning with Dr. Jehan Al-Azzawi who is an Edinburgh-based teacher and academic, and the co-founder of Educators for Peace. She said to The Edinburgh Reporter afterwards: “I think the primary issue he faced was media scrutiny, and the onslaught of that media pile-on that he experienced in the weeks leading up to his death.

“This issue became more than a case of academic misconduct. Those allegations had already been through the academic processes and had been dismissed. This story was was initiated again by a self-described eugenicist who led to the renewed interest in what was essentially an old story.

“There are currently sitting academics at Cambridge University that have been accused of similar, if not worse, and they have not been dragged through the news in the way that Professor Jason Arday was. And the difference there is because they are white, so it is absolutely an issue of race and the exceptional scrutiny that people of color face in our public life, whereby they are not allowed to make any mistakes in their life. They are expected to be completely and utterly perfect, and that is again a reflection of how unfairly people of color are treated.

“But it became not about the academic misconduct allegations. It became about the man himself and the debate that ensued about diversity and inclusion policies, recruitment practices, and a complete misrepresentation of their purpose, as to suggest that people of color only get into those positions because of those policies and not because of merit, and that’s a complete distortion of their purpose.”

Cllr Graham Campbell, a City of Glasgow councillor who is also chair of the council’s Education Committee, said he is demanding that Glasgow University drops its investigation into Jason Arday. He was also critical of the role of the press in Arday’s death. He said: “I have had to curtail what I say here, otherwise look at what the mainstream papers will say – ‘Councillor Campbell angrily said this or angrily said that’ – everything we do is “angrily”. Well, if we’re not angry about this, we’re not human. We’re not really upset, mortified, and upset at the institutions, the white supremacy that led to his death.”

He continued: “This was a 21st-century high-tech lynching by social and mass media, premised upon a white supremacist, eugenicist, racist’s false accusation against Jason Arday.”

Cllr Campbell did not name outright the person he was referring to, but an academic at Ghent University in Belgium, Nathan Cofnas, who said that the late Professor Arday had plagiarised texts was suspended from his post on Thursday.

He said: “Black lives should matter in this system. They don’t, and in academia, in a country like ours, which prides itself on exceptionalism, as we said at the beginning, Scotland is not exceptional. It’s exceptionally racist.

“That’s what it is, and we know it from our life experience. Watch as we try to make these institutions change and work for us. We know there’s only change from below that really makes the difference.”

He also called for Leveson 2, referring to the inquiry into the culture and ethics of the media. He said: “Without the platform of truth, one of the platforms of truth is a media that’s genuinely independent and tells the truth. We don’t have that.”

He added: “The press needs to be properly controlled, and journalists need to be held to account. Propagandists, not journalists, need to be sacked from those newspapers. They need to be held to account. We should be outside their house, not having journalists camped outside the Arday family’s house. Let’s turn back the fear.”

Irene Mosota, Chair of the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Implementation Group, said this was her first time addressing a public rally such as this. She said: “Some people will say, “Why are you here? What do you want to achieve? I’m here because I have hope, and I believe that things can get better.

“And it’s just not the small number of people who are here today, but I think it’s upon all of us to take an action in terms of ensuring that people are protected, and not to see it as a responsibility for a small number of people. We all live in society. And when things like this happen, what I can say for sure is it is important knowing that you’re never alone.

“We can have complexity, we can have compassion, and we can still continue to have grace for one another. So thank you for being here, and please continue to hold the family of Jasonadi in your prayers and your thoughts.”

Afterwards one member of the audience who had travelled from Glasgow said to The Edinburgh Reporter: “I just came here to show my support and stand with Jason Arday’s passing and his family and friends, and just the injustice that he faced. I don’t know if it made me feel better, but I think we have work to do. We have work to do to continue the fight and to do what he wanted – to have more tolerance because it seems to have been lost for a very long time.”

Another woman said: “Mostly I feel said about this situation, a bit more empowered, I think. As a white person, one of the most important things we can do is to be aware of our white privilege in these situations. It’s good to have that opportunity to to hear those voices that that we don’t get to hear enough, and that’s so that’s that’s what makes me feel better about it. So I’m glad I came.”

Adeyeme Johnson, The National African & Black Association (NABA), dedicated to the legacy of Sheku Bayo. Vigil for Professor Jason Arday outside Scottish Parliament on Saturday 22nd. © 2026 Martin McAdam.

This article or a part of it is provided by the news agency Deadline News Limited and published here with permission.

Vigil for Professor Jason Arday held in Edinburgh

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