Felicity takes off

Kill threats force them into hiding

UNIVERSITY professors are running scared over death threats from yob students.

The chilling messages came after they published papers on controversial issues including transgender rights and climate change.

The thug activists threatened to rape them and urinate on them.

Now the professors have set up The Journal Of Controversial Ideas so they can publish work anonymously without fear of attack.

Dr Francesca Minerva received death threats after publishing articles on whether to euthanise babies born with severe disabilities.

She said: “They are things like, ‘I will find you and open your skull.’ They said I wanted to kill newborn babies, which of course I didn’t. It was a philosophical argument.”

Panic

Dr Minerva, a bioethicist at Warwick University and co-editor of the journal, added: “We hope the journal will improve the situation by showing it is good to discuss controversial ideas.

“If the research has to be published anonymously at least it is being done.”

Another co-editor, Peter Singer, received death threats for publishing similar articles and has had a panic button installed in his office.

The Australian-born philosopher – a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, New Jersey, US – also has a scanner to check suspicious packages.

He said: “We are looking for research that’s controversial that people might be worried about putting out. It is not a good atmosphere.”

They hope it will encourage young researchers to explore controversial topics such as colonialism, transgender rights, abortion, climate change and eugenics without fear of retribution.