The pressure on colleges and universities has reached a new level - hearings have begun. Jelena Jerinić, deputy of the Green-Left Front and university professor, tells "Vreme" that the hearing of rector Vladan Đokić is another pressure on the university and perhaps a prelude to hearing the dean
After threats, public name-calling through the media, attacks, "potatoes" on bank accounts, the hearings of employees at faculties.
Rector of the University of Belgrade Vladan Djokic, by order of the prosecution, was questioned on Friday (April 18) at the Directorate of Criminal Police in Belgrade. He is charged with the criminal offense of abuse of official position.
Jelena Jerinić, member of parliament of the Green-Left Front and professor at the Law Faculty of Union University, tells "Vreme" that the hearing of Vladan Đokić is another form of trying to put pressure on the faculties.
"The rector of any university has very little authority. A small number of study programs are carried out at the university itself. I don't know what the rector could do to abuse his official position. I think it's about pressure from him who, since he spoke at the Parliamentary Committee on Education, has become the face of the blockade in Belgrade, like the dean Natalija Jovanović in Niš and then the entire SNS machinery collapsed on them," Jerinić told "Vreme".
As he adds, everything is designed to put pressure on people from various sides.
"Some people were detained by the police, it's pressure from all sides and somehow that was expected from the Serbian Progressive Party. The goal is to intimidate and sway people so that the blockades end. Maybe this is an announcement that they will now take turns filing complaints against the dean of the faculty," says Jerinić.
What is encouraging, he says, is that every time something happens, in a large number of cases, the public reacts, people gather, and he adds that how the proceedings proceed will depend on the public's reaction.
Nothing indicates that SNS will give up on pressure, Jerinić adds.
Two and a half hour hearing
While Đokić was being questioned, a large number of university professors, students and citizens gathered in front of the Criminal Police Directorate building in New Belgrade.
The hearing lasted two and a half hours, and Đokić then said that the day before he had received a summons to report to the police because of the criminal complaint filed against him for abuse of official position.
Vladan Đokić and his lawyer Nebojša Maraš said that this is a pre-investigation procedure, and they cannot provide more information about what happened at the police station.
"I declared that I did not commit any criminal act. This criminal act is being blamed on me, but also on all members of the academic community who have been trying for months to articulate and make some decisions that the students started and the professors and citizens of this country supported," he said.
As he said, it is a report not only against him, but against all deans, professors and students and our entire academic community.
"I hope that our academic community will continue to remain united and united," Djokic said in a short statement, adding that he could not comment further.
Who filed a criminal complaint against Rector Đokić and why?
The answer to these questions is not yet known, and neither Đokić nor his lawyer wanted to comment on that after the hearing.
As reported by Tanjug, referring to the inspection of the criminal complaint, it was submitted by a group of students who want to study and did so. In mid-March, they filed a criminal complaint against Rector Đokić because he severely violated the students' right to education, reports Tanjug.
However, the prosecution did not officially confirm that Đokić was questioned because of that report.
As reported by N1, the public prosecutor of the special anti-corruption department of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade ordered the police to interrogate Rector Đokić in his capacity as a citizen on a criminal complaint, but the prosecution did not officially announce who filed the complaint.
"It is completely irrelevant who is the applicant of the criminal report, it can be anyone, it is irrelevant. That criminal report was written in SNS, who signed it, is less important. They found someone to file the report in order to put pressure on the rector and the entire academic community. What can be noticed is that not all criminal reports are treated equally", concludes Jelena Jerinić.
"The government is behaving scandalously"
A large number of citizens gathered in front of the building of the Criminal Police Administration for the duration of the hearing, and many university professors consider today's hearing as additional pressure on the university due to blockades that have lasted for more than five months.
Retired professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences Snježana Milivojević told N1 at a rally in support of Rector Vladan Đokić that the government is trying to drag the University into police buildings.
Professor Milivojević considers the arrival of the Rector to the premises of the UKP on the order of the prosecution to answer the questions of the police as one of the biggest scandals in relation to the University.
"The government behaves scandalously all the time, but as the situation escalates, everyone does their own thing. They defend themselves with the police, they even drag the University into police buildings, and the citizens and the academic community, as you have heard, do not provide a rector," Milivojević told N1.
This was shouted by those gathered at the protest in front of UKP, which was called by the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA), and then the students in the blockade did the same.
The Rebel University initiative issued a statement, as they stated, "on the occasion of another pressure on Serbian universities, the Extended Rector's College of BU and Rector Vladan Đokić" and addressed the Directorate of Criminal Police.
"We are addressing you, to whom we have entrusted to hold the sword and scales in the Republic of Serbia. The letter of the law says that 'An official who, by exploiting his official position or authority, by exceeding the limits of his official authority or by failing to perform his official duty, obtains any benefit for himself or another physical or legal person, causes any harm to another, or seriously infringes the rights of another, shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years'. Dear fellow citizens from the Criminal Police Directorate, what are you doing?" they asked in the statement.
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