The BioSens Institute accuses the government of illegally taking over management and dismissing the director, Vladimir Crnojević. As a sign of protest, together with students and citizens, employees blocked the entrance of "illegally elected and incompetent" members of the Board of Directors.
Novi Sad Institute BioSens announced today (Saturday, August 9) that he is facing by illegal action of the authorities which is trying to take over the institute by appointing incompetent members of the Board of Directors, as well as to replace the director Vladimir Crnojević without a valid legal basis.
"We have a reasonable suspicion that retaliation is at work because the employees of the Institute supported the student demands after the tragedy due to the fall of the canopy, in which our colleague Vasko Sazdovski was also killed and after the director Crnojević refused to send employees to the meeting of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS)," announced the Research and Development Institute for Biosystems Information Technologies.
The employees, joined by students and citizens, are currently blocking the entrance to the institute for "illegally elected and incompetent" members of the Board of Directors, reports FoNet.
Direct destruction of a scientific institution
"This protest does not only concern the defense of the BioSens Institute, but also concerns all citizens of Serbia, because today in front of the BioSens Institute, the rule of law is being defended and it is resisting the rule of reprisals and blackmail," said the BioSens Institute.
The employees also point to the illegal scheduling of electronic sessions outside working hours in order to quickly and again illegally, via email, replace the director who, as they point out, is responsible for the construction and development of the BioSens institute with his team. It was assessed that the government thereby shows that it is ready for anything on the way to realizing its political interests.
"In this case, they are also ready to illegally manage the work of the institute in a way that directly leads to the destruction of this scientific institution, whose work is internationally recognized and which launched pioneering ventures in the field of scientific research," BioSens warns in a statement.
Necessary EU reaction
It is also emphasized that the largest number of projects of the BioSens Institute are realized in cooperation with the EU, and therefore the reaction of the relevant EU institutions is necessary regarding, as assessed, an alarming situation, in which the collapse of the Institute directly threatens EU investments.
"Accordingly, we sought the international support of our partners for the purpose of preserving this internationally recognized bastion of scientific development, and directly turned to the Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, Andreas von Beckerath, for help. Not only ours, but also the European public must be informed about how the government deals with dissidents in Serbia," said the BioSens Institute.
They also emphasize that - after the death of their colleague in the tragedy at the Railway Station - for all employees of the BioSens Institute, the fight against incompetence and corruption is of particular importance.
"We owe that fight to our colleague, but also to all citizens of Serbia, because in these circumstances we are all equally threatened," said the employees of the BioSens Institute.
"Outlaw" Vladimir Crnojević
As "Vreme" already wrote, the refusal to send 30 scientists to the rally Serbian Progressive Party it cost Vladimir Crnojević the position of director of the BioSens Institute in Novi Sad. Replaced is at an urgent electronic meeting of the Board of Directors.
Member of the Management Board, Vesna Bengin, said that four representatives of the Province of Vojvodina expressed their opinion about the dismissal of the director via e-mail.
"The law stipulates how the director can be dismissed, that the Board of Directors must present documentation as to why the director was dismissed, and that was not the case," she added.
Crnojević, by the way, supported the list of the Serbian Progressive Party in 2022. However, as he said after the shift to N1, he has not supported the ruling party since November 1 last year, when fallen canopy The railway station in Novi Sad, under which BioSens scientist Vasko Sazdovski was also killed.
He said that it was from him provincial government asked to provide 30 scientists for one meeting of the ruling party, which he refused. That gesture was interpreted as "disobedience and disobedience".
"There was a violent introduction of politics and of course a change of leadership, after which anything can follow. For this reason, the Management Board was changed several times, or rather three times in a few months - because the people who became members of the Management Board, when they realized what their task was, did not want to participate in it and got their hands dirty," said Vladimir Crnojević.
What is BioSens?
BioSens, a research and development institute for information technologies of biosystems, was founded in 2015 and is a pioneer in the digital transformation of agriculture in Serbia.
Investigating the scientific and technological boundaries of the innovative application of IT in agriculture, the Institute strives to provide the Serbian, as well as the global agricultural sector, with superior digital solutions in order to achieve higher yields with less investment.
In the spring of 2023, the BioSens Institute was also given a development institute, and on that occasion the Prime Minister at the time, Ana Brnabić, declared that the "headquarters of a European center that will bring new values and innovations not only to Serbia, but also to the region and the world" was opened.
Brnabić pointed out that Serbia has shown that it can be a center of excellence in one of the areas that is very important for the future development of our country, which is digital agriculture.
Aware of innovation and potential, part of the employees now fear that it could all collapse, because the condition is to respond to the invitation "from the top" to attend Vučić's rallies and thus show your loyalty and gratitude.
Sources: FoNet/Vreme
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