UK professor refuses to join presumed-guilty condemnation of accused student union president

Article here. Excerpt:

A C Grayling [link added] has criticised a boycott of the Oxford Union after the president was reinstalled despite being investigated by police over rape allegations, saying he is “innocent until proven guilty”.

The Professor of Philosophy said the president, who was arrested by police earlier this month on suspicion of rape and attempted rape of two undergraduates, should not be subject to “the kangaroo court of opinion”.

He criticised the boycott by Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble, David Mepham, UK Director of Human Rights Watch and Julie Meyer, the American entrepreneur and judge on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den.

The renowned philosopher, who is master of New College of the Humanities, an independent undergraduate college in London, urged speakers to “take seriously that fundamental principle of the rule of law and the rights of individuals"
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“Asking people to convict and punish someone before due process of law has taken its course is a bad direction to go in, and with great respect I urge you to reflect on that.”

He added: “You may of course know things about what lies behind the allegations in this current case, suggesting that there is real fire below the smoke - but even this would lie in the terrain of report and accusation until the matter has come to court.”
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The Union President, Ben Sullivan, a 21-year-old student at Christ Church College, was arrested by police on May 7 on suspicion of rape and attempted rape of two undergraduates. He was released on bail until June 18 and denies the allegations.'