University sacking sparks protest from abroad

Swissinfo.ch 15 November 2013

About 600 academics from around the world have signed a petition asking for the reinstatement of Iris Ritzmann, a University of Zurich professor, after she was sacked amid accusations of giving confidential information to journalists concerning a colleague, reports http://Swissinfo.ch and agencies.

The move came two days after the resignation of the university’s rector, Andreas Fischer, over the affair. Ritzmann, a professor in the university’s Institute for the History of Medicine, was dismissed from her position on 29 October. She stands accused of providing confidential documents to the media, detailing criticism of Christoph Mörgeli, head of the University’s Medical History Museum at the time and a right-wing Swiss People’s Party parliamentarian.

The petition, which was printed as an advert in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper last Friday, claims that she “almost single-handedly maintained scientific standards at the institute over many years and under the most adverse of circumstances”.
Full report on the Swissinfo.ch site

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