A solicitor acting for the psychology Professor Mattias Desmet has said that the academic is to ask the Council of State to overturn a decision taken by the University of Ghent to no longer allow the use of one of his textbooks in courses taught at the university. The university has ruled that Professor Desmet’s book ‘Psychology of totalitarianism’ can no longer be used for teaching purposes. His lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge told the press agency Belga that the decision “significantly reduced my client's curriculum and seriously damaged his reputation as a teacher."
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Controversial professor goes to the Council of State after Ghent University said that his textbook can no longer be used
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Professor Desmet was discredited last year after controversial statements made in a broadcast hosted by the American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. There, amongst other things, the psychology professor claimed that he had witnessed open-heart surgery being performed under hypnosis and without anesthetic in at Belgian hospital. This claim turned out to be a lie. Professor Desmet also made controversial remarks in an interview with Tucker Carlson, who left the American conservative news channel Fox News at the start of this week.
Here in Belgium Professor Desmet was highly critical of policies pursued to contain the spread of coronavirus. Despite the controversy surrounding some of the statements made by Professor Desmet Ghent University kept him on its payroll. However, earlier this year the university’s Committee for Scientific Integrity ruled that Professor Desmet’s work is both sloppy and that it is based, at least in part, on science that is outdated.
Talks in February led nowhere
The psychologist was ordered to incorporate and respect a wider range of perspectives in the Cultural and Social Critique course where he was still allowed to teach 50% of the lectures. A colleague from Professor Desmet’s department was given overall responsibility for the course.
Professor Desmet didn’t agree with the conditions that had been imposed on him by the university and he requested a meeting with UGent’s Executive Board. Around 30 members sit on the board that is chaired by the former Flemish Prime Minister, the MEP Geert Bourgeois (nationalist). The council rejected Professor Desmet’s demands and said that his appeal was “inadmissible”.
Now the academic’s lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge believes that there is good reason for the case to be put before the Council of State. "As my client was not given the opportunity to defend himself against the university, the decision taken on 25 January 2023 is being challenged at the Council of State. The procedure was initiated on 25 March 2023 and is now pending."
The university management has issued no substantive response to the news.