The Persecution of the Unsuitable

On Monday, at a meeting of the University Council in Belgrade, the Minister of Education, Jovo Todorovic, who will be remembered, among other things, as the author of numerous cryptic statements, made it very clear that "those employed by the university, which was founded by the state, who fail to sign the new employment contract, must be relieved of all teaching duties". The Minister suggested that the new university legislation has been well received, in that only 169 lecturers from the University of Belgrade, and around twenty from other Serbian universities failed to sign the contract, for purely political reasons. At the first constitutive meeting of the University Council, held on 21 September 1998, Mr. Todorovic stated the opposite: the law does not propose any repressive measures against lecturers and associates who do not sign the contract. He did however admit that the government is preparing a unique solution for all employees who refuse to sign the contract.

According to Tanjug’s report from the meeting of the University Council, lecturers from the faculty of philosophy, philology and electronics received a special mention in the Minister’s speech, and were labeled ‘flag bearers in the resistance against the implementation of laws and norms’. It is interesting that in the same context, a group of lecturers from the law faculty were pardoned although they refused to sign the contract on the grounds that it is unconstitutional because it abolishes the autonomy and contravenes Article 165!? This is how Jovo Todorovic described the lecturers who refused to sign the contract: "Behind them are certain political forces which were the main organizers of the protests which took place in 1996, at a time when our country was facing strong economic and political pressures." Emphasizing that this description applies to less than 2 percent of the total number of lecturers and associates employed by the six universities in Serbia, Todorovic pointed out that he can not allow such a small number of politically motivated people to prevent tens of thousands of students from pursuing their education. The dean of the electro-technical faculty (ETF), Dr. Vlada Teodosic, and the dean of the philology faculty, Dr. Radmilo Marojevic, participated in the meeting by arguing that at their respective faculties that everything was done ‘according to the law’. These are the deans who, together with Oliver Antic of the law faculty, became well known to the wider public for their passion for implementing the law: they have sacked, suspended, relieved of teaching duties or forced into retirement dozens of prominent professors.

The Education minister argues that the new legislation has been well received: he is ignoring the fact that 10,000 lecturers and associates from the University of Belgrade signed a petition against this piece of legislation and that a number of professional associations - ranging from the Committee for the Defense of Democracy at the university and the Association of Lecturers and Researchers, to the European Conference of University Chancellors protested against it. The constitutional court has already been asked to assess the constitutionality of the legislation while the Independent Trade Union of Employees of the University of Belgrade demanded that the ‘legal and physical violence against lecturers who failed to sign the employment contract’ should stop. The Trade Union also asked the constitutional court to rule on the matter.

A number of intellectuals from around the country and from abroad have asked the Chancellor of the University of Belgrade to explain what is going on at the oldest higher education institution in the country. However, numerous open letters addressed to Chancellor Jagos Puric remain unanswered. Twenty lecturers at the University of Belgrade recently wrote to Jagos Puric: ‘The Chancellor must protect the honor and the reputation of the university and its members. Lecturers as well as students. It is up to you to show whether you are a university chancellor or a commissar of some political party. You are silent, while terrible and shameful things are happening at the university. At the electro-technical faculty, bullies under the command of a certain Milos Laban turned a number of lecturers out of their offices. Even a gray-haired member of the academy was the victim of this violent act. The only time something similar has happened in the civilized world was when Jewish lecturers were expelled from German universities by the activists of the German National Socialist Party. All lecturers at the faculty were elected following the same procedures and according to the same criteria as those applied in your case. Therefore, what we are witnessing is nothing but political violence against those who do not share your views and opinions’

Following the sad and incredible events at the electro-technical faculty, the faculty’s students union demanded the resignation of the dean, Vlada Teodosic, the removal of security guards from the faculty buildings, the reinstatement of eleven professors who were sacked, and the annulment of the election which made Milos Laban a visiting lecturer and member of the faculty’s executive committee. It is emphasized in the letter that the ’tension which the new dean created with his arrogant behavior and tactless statements culminated last week: Teodosic and Laban threatened lecturers and students with physical violence and shouted national and religious abuse at them’. The letter also suggests that the continuation of the present state of affairs will prevent generations of students from pursuing their education and that the faculty will lose the international reputation which it’s has been building for decades.

In another public statement, issued some time ago, students from the electro-technical faculty warned that certain unknown individuals prevented lecturers from entering lecture theaters, and that Milos Laban lead these individuals from one lecture hall to the next, telling them who should be removed, pushed out or in other ways prevented from giving the lecture. The students union protested against the enforcement of order by such methods and invited the students to boycott lectures in 19 subjects previously taught by lecturers who have been banned. In the meantime, members of ETF’s students union covered the faculty with posters saying: "Have you seen the gorillas? Are you prepared to attend lectures while ‘that thing’ is standing at the entrance/ Who are they protecting us from?" The stewards conscientiously tore down the posters. After these events, the lecturers held the lectures in front of the faculty building. For some, these ‘lectures in the open’ will probably be the most important lesson this year.

The trade union of ETF employees decided to begin with daily one hour strikes. Since last Tuesday, all teaching at the ETF stops between eleven and twelve in the morning. This course of action will continue every day until the demands are met. The demands include the annulment of the decision to transfer 11 lecturers to the Research Center, i.e. to allow them to teach until a legal ruling on the matter is obtained, and the withdrawal of those who claim to be security guards. In a statement signed by Dr. Jovan Nahman, president of the executive committee of ETF’s trade union, it is suggested that if these demands are not met by 10 November, the members of the union will take wider industrial action.

In the meantime, following a written communication from the Education Minister addressed to all deans, which emphasized that lecturers and their assistants who have not signed the contract are not to be allowed to teach or hold seminars, it was once again the dean of ETF who was most rigid in the implementation of the Minister’s words: the unsuitable lecturers were transferred to ETF’s research center which is currently being created (and is therefore still non-existent). The center will be situated at the physics research institute, and, according to Dr. Slavoljub Marjanovic, it is still without elementary working conditions. In a communiqué issued by ETF’s administration, copies of which were posted on faculty’s notice boards it is said that those ‘named’ in the document are not allowed to remain in the building for long periods of time and without good reason. Those ‘named’ must also vacate their offices and laboratories within 48 hours. In the document, all those ‘named’ are listed without their academic titles.

Dr. Jovo Todorovic says that the university legislation has been well accepted: if apathy, fear and hopelessness are a sign of acceptance, then the Minister is right.