Professor Dora Kostakopoulou has been suspended from her functions at the University of Warwick since 16 January 2020 without having been given details about the allegations against her or the right to defend herself. It is imperative that we stand up for her, in the name of workers' rights and academic freedom.

Professor Kostakopoulou was informed on 13 December 2019 by the Provost of the University of Warwick that a disciplinary investigation had been launched on the basis that she had not met the Head of the Law Department (although he had prior knowledge of Professor Kostakopoulou’s external examining duties at another University) and was not fulfilling her responsibilities in good faith. Despite numerous requests, Professor Kostakopoulou was not provided with sufficient clarification about the substance of the allegations against her or prima facie evidence for those allegations.

On 16 January 2020, Professor Kostakopoulou was suspended from work indefinitely, in a humiliating and embarrassing way, by having a meeting with a student being abruptly interrupted. She was not given the opportunity to present her case against the Head of Department’s allegations. Her courses, which had started, were cancelled, thereby depriving a considerable number of students from important learning. Professor Kostakopoulou has also lodged formal complaints against the Head of the School of Law and the Provost to the Chair of the Council of the University of Warwick, but she did not receive a reply from the Chair of the Council to either of these.

Professor Kostakopoulou believes that she is being victimised for complaints she has lodged in the past. Being deprived of her right to defend herself against any allegations stands in violation of the principles of legality, the rule of law and natural justice. Her suspension is thus null and void.

The current suspension is also violating Professor Kostakopoulou’s right to moral integrity, work and health. The fact that Professor Kostakopoulou is a woman of foreign descent also raises serious doubts about the University of Warwick’s commitment to, and respect for, the principle of equality.

Professor Kostakopoulou is a renowned academic and international reference in her field, who is immensely appreciated by a very large number of past students, PhD students, colleagues and research partners. The humiliating situation to which she is being subjected is not only legally unacceptable, but also morally outrageous. Furthermore, it is bringing the reputation of the University of Warwick into disrepute, through events reminiscent of the appalling and illegal treatment to which Professor Thomas Docherty was subjected in the past, which not only cost the University of Warwick £43.000 but also seriously dented its reputation.

We thus request that the suspension of Professor Kostakopoulou be immediately ended or, alternatively, an independent review be ordered to determine whether internal processes have been just and fair and whether her mistreatment was not actuated by malice or another improper motive.