The University of Sydney is investigating a casual tutor, Jay Tharappel, who is accused of launching a racial attack on a News Corp reporter to defend his mentor, pro-Assad lecturer Tim Anderson.

Anderson is a routine defender of the Bashar al-Assad government, and has dismissed any suggestion it was responsible for the recent chemical attack on civilians in rebel-held territory. The academic said allegations the Syrian government was responsible were a “hoax”, and that Assad has been framed by the west.

He has visited Syria numerous times during the war, and met Assad in 2013, describing him as a “mild-mannered eye doctor”.

In an interview with state-run television posted online last year, Anderson praised “martyrs who died defending their beautiful country” in the bloody six-year war.

News Corp published a series of articles critical of Anderson this week. That apparently prompted Tharappel, to attack a News Corp reporter, Kylar Loussikian, on social media.



“Devastating intellectual critique by Kylar Loussikian, the traitorous scum who desperately wants a second Armenian genocide. How much did they pay you, traitor? I guess stabbing Syria in the back with that surname is the best way of telling the world that you’re for sale, right?”

Loussikian is of Armenian descent.

The university confirmed on Wednesday that it was investigating the comments. “The University of Sydney has commenced an investigation into the behaviour of a casual staff member who is alleged to have made offensive comments to a journalist on social media,” a spokeswoman said.

“The university takes the allegations very seriously and is examining whether any breaches of its code of conduct have occurred.”

The code of conduct requires staff to act “fairly and reasonably” and treat people with respect and sensitivity. The spokeswoman said the university did not endorse Anderson’s pro-Assad views, but was committed to the “expression and protection of free speech”. “This means tolerance of a wide range of views, even when the views expressed are unpopular or controversial,” she said.

Tharappel was contacted for comment on Wednesday, but did not respond.

He posted on Facebook thanking people for their “overwhelming” support. “People ask me if I have been receiving threats. No, I’ve actually received nothing but love and support,” Tharappel wrote.

Both Anderson and Tharappel are scheduled to speak at a conference later this month, which will focus on the Syrian conflict. Tharappel describes Anderson as his mentor, and they were pictured together in Damascus in 2015.

The conference is endorsed by a student group, the Political Economy Society, which sought to distance itself from Anderson’s views on Wednesday. It posted on Facebook that: “The Political Economy Society does not endorse any of the views of any conference participants, including Dr Tim Anderson.

“However, in the interest of free and open intellectual discussion and debate, one of the core values of the Political Economy movement, at this time we have decided to continue to endorse this event.”

Russia, which backs al-Assad, claimed the Syrian government had bombed a rebel-run toxic gas manufacturing plant in Khan Sheikhun. The Russian government claimed the toxic gas had subsequently leaked out. That was largely debunked by Guardian reporter, Kareem Shaheen, one of the first reporters on the scene, who found only abandoned warehouses nearby.

The Turkish government has confirmed traces of sarin gas were detected in blood and urine samples from victims wounded in the attack. That is consistent with the results of earlier post-mortems, monitored by the World Health Organisation.

The US government said it had a high degree of confidence the attack was carried out by pro-Assad forces.