Hundreds of international academics have signed an open letter in support of a jailed Hong Kong law professor currently in solitary confinement, urging his university not to dismiss him from his position.

Benny Tai Yiu-ting, one of nine founders of the 2014 Umbrella movement, was sentenced to 16 months in prison in April over public nuisance charges related to his role in the mass protests that lasted for 79 days.

Tai's appeal is scheduled for August 15, but pro-Beijing groups are calling the University of Hong Kong to remove him from his position as an associate professor of law.

More than 300 academics including professors from Oxford University and University College London have signed the letter in support of Tai, which was released today.

“Professor Tai has expressed his willingness to accept criminal punishment in service of his convictions, he should not be additionally published by losing his academic position,” they say in the letter to Xiang Zhang, president of the University of Hong Kong.