LONDON: A rector at the University of St Andrews in Scotland has criticized a decision to remove her from two roles at the institution over an email she sent in which she accused Israel of genocide.

Stella Maris was removed from the university’s governing body and as a trustee following the email, which was sent to all students in November and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In the email she also accused Israel of practicing “apartheid, siege, illegal occupation and collective punishment” against Palestinians.

She also acknowledged and denounced Hamas’ “war crimes,” which she said included “the taking of hostages and deliberately targeting civilians.”

The university, in a statement issued on Thursday, said: “The Court of the University of St Andrews has informed the university rector Ms Stella Maris that she is to be discharged from the role of president of court and as a charity trustee.

“The court’s determination was made after the rector repeatedly declined to accept the conclusion of an independent investigation which found that she had made some St Andrews students ‘fear for their safety,’ and by her actions and activities breached her responsibilities and legal obligations as a court member and charity trustee.”

It added that it had “no choice but to discharge” Maris from the positions, but that she would retain her post as rector until her term finished in October 2026.

The statement also said: “(The) court wishes to stress that this decision has no bearing on Ms Maris’ freedom of speech, to which she is entitled and for which, like everyone else, she is personally accountable. We recognize that parts of the rector’s statement were an important source of comfort to students affected by the conflict in Gaza.”

Maris said she was disappointed by the decision, which she claimed showed a “lack of respect” for the rector’s role in speaking up for students and set a “dangerous precedent for freedom of speech” in British higher education, The Guardian newspaper reported.

“It is clear that I have been removed from university court because I called for an end to Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, and I will not apologize for doing so,” Maris said.

“As a young, neurodiverse Black woman with limited financial resources, I have faced the full force of the university, including a KC investigation, all because I made a statement supported by the overwhelming majority of students, calling for an end to a genocide.”

ANKARA: US journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan were released Thursday, the Turkish government announced, in one of the biggest East-West prisoner swaps since the Cold War.

Prisoners from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Belarus and Russia were involved in the swap “carried out” by Turkiye’s MIT intelligence service, Turkiye’s presidency said.

There was no immediate confirmation from US officials, although the swap was widely reported by US television networks. The Kremlin declined to comment on any exchange.

Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 and convicted in July on spying charges in a fast-track trial denounced as a sham by the United States.

Signs of an imminent prisoner swap had picked up momentum earlier Thursday, amid reports a plane used in a previous exchange deal had landed in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Hopes had also risen in recent days after a number of high-profile prisoners in Russia, including Whelan, went missing from prisons where they were serving long terms, fueling speculation they were being moved ahead of a swap.

As a rule, swaps can only happen after a conviction in Russia, and the disappearance of several high-profile political prisoners at once is extremely rare.

Among those expected to be returned to Russia in exchange is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian citizen imprisoned in Germany for killing a former Chechen rebel commander in a brazen assassination.

The exchange would be a victory for President Joe Biden, whose vice president, Kamala Harris, faces Republican Donald Trump in the November election.

This would be the first prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since star US basketball player Brittney Griner was swapped in return for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022.

It would also be the biggest exchange since 2010, when 14 alleged spies were exchanged between Russia and the West. They included double agent Sergei Skripal, who was sent by Moscow to Britain and undercover Russian agent Anna Chapman, sent by Washington to Russia.

Before then, major swaps involving more than a dozen people had only taken place during the Cold War, with Soviet and Western powers carrying out exchanges in 1985 and 1986.