Around 200 academics from New York University have called on their institution to publicly condemn the life imprisonment of the Durham PhD student accused of spying by the United Arab Emirates.

In a letter addressed to NYU president, Andrew Hamilton, the academics said the university, which has a campus in Abu Dhabi, should use its ties with the UAE government to press for the release of Matthew Hedges, whose detention they describe as unjustified and “tantamount to torture”.

The academics said the university’s president, Andrew Hamilton, should tell the Gulf state that Hedges’ imprisonment has “grave implications for NYU’s ongoing operation in Abu Dhabi”, which has been dogged by controversy over migrant labour abuses and restrictions to academic freedom.

They also called for the university to re-assess its ties with the UAE government, which financially supports the Abu Dhabi campus.

The letter states: “We believe it is essential for NYU to condemn this flagrant violation of academic freedom in a country where NYU operates a portal campus supported by UAE government financing.”

In an emailed response, Hamilton said that “it is important to note that we do not have any information regarding the case of Mr. Hedges beyond what has been publicly reported”. He added: “Those teaching and studying at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus engage in rigorous intellectual discussion, scholarly research, and academic analysis every day with no restrictions.”

One of the letter’s signatories, John Archer, a professor of English, said that NYU should withdraw from Abu Dhabi in the light of Hedges’ imprisonment. “Western universities have to think seriously about whether they want to remain [there],” he said. “I think that indicating to the authorities in the UAE that decades of academic collaboration are now in danger is the way to go.”

Archer urged the universities of Durham and Exeter, where Hedges did his masters, to “keep up the pressure” on the UAE government. He added: “Some of us at NYU really admire the joint statement of Durham and Exeter, and we’ve asked ‘would our university issue such a statement?’ and we think no, our university is completely silent on this issue.”

The sentencing of Hedges sparked a diplomatic crisis this week as the UAE was accused of a miscarriage of justice. Hedges had spent six months in jail waiting for his hearing this week, which lasted five minutes, with no defence lawyer present. The Gulf state is now considering Hedges’ appeal for clemency.

Senior professors and lecturers’ unions in the US and the UK have also called for a moratorium on academic research in the UAE, warning it is no longer safe for university staff or students to work or study there. Staff at the University of Birmingham have voted for an academic boycott of its new campus in Dubai.

Several US academics are said to have been barred from teaching at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus. One journalism professor, Mohamad Bazzi, said his security clearance was rejected because he is a Shia muslim seeking to enter the Sunni UAE. Arang Keshavarzian, a professor of Middle Eastern politics, was reportedly barred on similar grounds. In response, the NYU journalism department has boycotted the campus over threats to academic freedom.

Another academic specialising in labour issues, Andrew Ross, was barred from the campus over unspecified concerns thought to be connected with his criticism of the exploitation of migrant construction workers in the country.

Last year, an administrator at NYU Abu Dhabi, Bryan Waterman, warned students that speaking out on the campus about issues restricted by the UAE government, such as sympathy for its neighbour Qatar, would not always be protected by academic freedom.

NYU has been approached for a response.