Purge at the Law Faculty

Dean Oliver Antic is entering into the shameful history of the Law Faculty: in just one day he handed pink slips to Prof. Dragoljub Popovic, Prof. Dragor Hiber, and Assistant Prof. Mirjana Stefanovska because they, like 12 of their colleagues, went on strike when Dean Antic illegally dismissed Dr. Vladimir Vodinelic, one of the leading Yugoslav theoreticians of civil law and one of the faculty's best professors.

Antic, like Herostrat who burned Artimedes' Temple in Efes in order to be famous, will be remembered for a crime: he has driven more professors from the faculty than during the WWII occupation, the liberal period (early 70’), or immediately following the 1944. liberation when not more than two professors were distanced from the faculty in one "purge" which apparently on the higher educational level appear cyclically every 25 years, as they tell us at the Law Faculty. Antic has already received the nickname Antic the Terrible.

Fifteen professors went on strike September 7. They justified their act in a public letter in which they say that the dean's decision was completely illegal and that it represents a clear example of the abuse of the university law, "The foundations of our profession are completely threatened by this. There is nothing left for us to do but to stop all activity in instruction until the dean alters this illegal decision."

Signers of the letter stress that they are aware of the challenge the protest carries--they have lived and worked for the faculty and it won't be easy for them to leave it. "However, there exists higher principles without which our teachings to students lose meaning. Now it's all about that, but the dismissal of Vodinelic only illustrates the danger," Law Faculty professors Danilo Basta, Kosta Covoski, Vojin Dimitrijevic, Dragor Hiber, Aleksandra Jovanovic, Gaso Kezevic, Miroljub Labus, Dragica Milinkovic-Vujadinovic, Slobodanka Nedovic, Dragoljub Popovic, Vesna Rakic-Vodinelic, Mirjana Stefanovski, Mirjana Todorovic, Jovica Trkulja, and Radmila Vasic announced to the public.
Why is it that out of the 15 professors who have stopped work "only" these three were dismissed? Dean Antic explained the dynamic behind the announced dismissals, "Professors who are on strike aren't going to be dismissed at the same time. According to the law, a work relationship ceases if they do not fulfill their work obligations for five consecutive days. The dean concludes that by issuing a dismissal. The deadline isn't the same for everyone--the administrator gathers

information about the lack of activity of each professor individually." That is to say, exams are in progress. Some professors have already fulfilled the legal quota of five consecutive days, but some still haven't had exams.

DIRTY HANDS: In the meantime, while the administration did its part of the work, Dean Antic is trying on all sides to publicly discredit the group of professors on strike. According to his own words there was a "wasps nest of the Civic Alliance party" at the Law Faculty, the petitioners on strike are those who condemned Serbs for crimes in Bosnia, manipulated students, and pushed them into the demonstrations...

Dean Antic is speaking untruths...not every one of the 15 professors belongs to some political party, nor are they close per any political orientation. Many attributed the scheduling of the administrative committee to Antic's fear of passing judgment by himself.

One already gets the feeling from the Faculty Board's composition that the imposing dean will get support for his current personnel policy: the president is Professor Vlajko Brajic (SPS); members Dr. Vojislav Seselj, vice-president of the Serbian government; Dragoljub Jankovic, minister of justice; Goran Percevic, SPS official; Milan Karlisic, aide to the minister of information. There are also regular law professors Predrag Sulejic and Milenko Kresa, as well as Assistant Prof. Vladimir Stojiljkovic, son of the minister of police. There are even two student representatives on the Board. The Faculty Board's session lasted four hours and was closed. Journalists hovered before the door, but so were 15 of Seselj's bodyguards dressed as civilians. "So you just froze," say the students.

The Faculty Board extended full support to the dean: President Dr. Vlajko Brajic announced that this body isn't competent to resolve the case of the 15 professors who have stopped working. However, even Dean Antic commented to journalists, "I won't mete out dismissals nor will I will I make any decisions. At the Faculty Board it was concluded that under the law all professors who are on strike and have accrued five days without working automatically receive a pink slip." Law professors who spoke with Vreme say that Dean Antic is once again perpetrating an unprofessional lie: there isn't any kind of legal immediacy, everything is at the dean's discretion.

A faculty by-law, which provides for the new law and about which the academic council didn't give it's opinion, was also adopted during the session. The dean received support for "all activities in the organization of the September exam period." Students received one more exam period (October 2), while in the education ministers speech they were informed of an initiative that professors can remain at the faculty until the age of 70. Evidently, this is a reward for those on strike who, in contrast to some of their colleagues, agreed to hold exams in place of colleagues who are on strike. Concretely, Professor Brajic tested introductory law in place of Cavoski so that, as cynics have pointed out, this is the first time in history that students knew the material better than the professors testing them. Bozidar Pavicevic, a retired professor from the Law Faculty in Kragujevac, replaced Gasa Knezevic, professor of private law while the national history exam was conducted by Father Dimsa Peric, a church figure, rather than Mirjana Stefanovski...Once again it has come to some "unprincipled coalitions" at the Law Faculty: SPS, JUL, and the Radicals in a beginning "purge" zealously aided by Professor Slobodan Perovic, otherwise a member of the Crown Council.

When Professor Vodinelic was handed his dismissal, Professor Jovan Trkulja said that he wasn't the least bit surprised by the new, warlike persecution of one of the oldest institutions of culture in the republic, "Unfortunately, the Law Faculty has a long history of intellectual ostracism toward the most brilliant people. The Law Faculty has failed the test once more. I think they are going to repeat '73: the Law Faculty will be violated. Moreover, one small group, the 16 of us, will not agree to the degradation and it's illegitimacy--we will experience expulsion, but we still save the spirit. The majority will unwillingly maintain their lackey privileges, while a small number will enjoy themselves in this painful act--they are already trying out the armchairs of officials, ministers, and ambassadors. “Institutionally and un-institutionally, this government, with the cry of "Kosovo radio", is destroying cultural institutions one by one. The government no longer feigns anything, everything seems forced, transparent, and arrogant.
At the Philosophical Faculty they are already expecting a month of denouement--this faculty has the largest number of professors, around 70, who refused to sign contracts. What will become of them, along with the professors from the Philological, Law, Chemistry, Political Science, and Electro-technical Faculties who didn't sign contracts? Will all 150 of them be dismissed as some deans threaten? Legal experts warn that no sanctions are provided for those who refuse to sign contracts, so this standard is legally useless and senseless. But, evidently, it is driving fear into them. The regime has decided to strengthen the criteria of devotion: silence and "cultivating your own garden" is no longer enough. Now one must buckle under and sign.

Although in liberal circles those who didn't sign contracts experience a high profile and moral rank, one part of the academic world now poses the question--doesn't this manner greater play into the hands of those supporters of the law by realizing their aim of a university "cleansed" of the most liberal and the best experts? "Rather than the 15 professors, like "early Christians" obstinate and frightened, tossing themselves to the mouths of wild animals for the satisfaction of spectators, I am adamant for energetic and successful action, above all, for the foundation of a wide organization of university solidarity and the start of preparations for a general university strike which, without professors, would include students," commented law professor Stevan Lilic, announcing that he had joined all efforts to bring Professor Vodinelic back to the faculty.
At a majority of the faculties, deans still hesitate from issuing dismissals: evidently, they are waiting for the Sultan's edict from Dedinje. In the meantime, many are behaving like ruffians, carrying out repression against their own souls: Economic dean Vlajko Petkovic punishes "stubborn" colleagues economically--he leaves them without pay. Deans Marojevic and Teodosic cancel or take away subjects, "free up" sections, requisition furniture, prohibit traveling to scientific and scholarly conferences that the irreputable dean of the Philological Faculty distinguishes as "patriotic" and "traitorous"?! At the Technical-mechanical Faculty, where mathematician Milivoje Lazic was appointed dean, a professor, who hadn't put his signature on a contract, was refused verification of his medical card. Dean of the Philosophy Faculty Mihailo Vojvodic, according to some views "one gentle edition of the new deans from the new law", forbade one meeting of the union "because it wasn't announced".. As soon as the law was passed, a group of professors from the Law Faculty, Professor Vesna Rakic-Vodinelic was the spiritus movens, set proceedings in motion before the constitutional court for a judgment as to the unconstitutionality of the new university law (due to the repeal of autonomy in article 165). The law professors say that if we were a normal country, the law would be overturned.
Is there a powerful and stronger reaction in a "dead society", as the one we are living in, than only 10,000 signatures on the petition against the new university law, which in a normal country is enough for the government to fall, let alone occupy parliamentary procedures? Let's not deceive ourselves, we are not a normal country: Serbia isn't Poland, it doesn't have solidarity....But, even suffering and degradation has a limit. Will all 150 professors be dismissed? Perhaps the university will wake up then? Perhaps they will demonstrated to themselves that the sacrifice of those 15 professors from the Law Faculty, "early Christians who voluntarily threw themselves into the mouths of wild animals for the joy of the enraptured audience," and wasn't futile...