Race to court
NADEEM AHMED, THE former Oxford University student who unsuccessfully sued the institution for racial discrimination in the County Court last year is now taking his case to the Court of Appeal. His claim is still being defended by Hertford's controversial English Fellow, Tom Paulin, who gave evidence at the last hearing and whose involvement is expected again.
In April 2002 Judge Playford, in a Reading County Court hearing, rejected Ahmed's claims that the university victimised him because of his race, saying there was insufficient grounds and a lack of evidence. Ahmed had been told to drop out of a masters degree in medieval Arabic philosophy at Oxford's Oriental Institute in 1999, after failing two separate exams. However, he claimed that the exams had been unfairly set and marked, as a ploy to justify expelling him from the University.
A spokesman from the University said: "This is a long-running case, and the university has consistently said that it acted fairly and reasonably. This was supported by the full county court hearing in April. The University will continue to defend the case vigorously."
9th Jan 2003