Prison or Peer Review
23rd October 2026
A Belgian entity called Unia (The Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism and Discrimination) is preparing a criminal case against the philosopher Nathan Cofnas. If successful, a jail term of between six months and three years is possible under a new criminal code that came into force on 1 September 2026. Articles 250 and 251 of that code deal, respectively, with “incitement to discrimination or racial hatred (including denial of genocides)” and “dissemination of racial ideas.”
It is uncommon for a postdoctoral researcher in philosophy to be threatened with prison. What has Cofnas done?