Students from the organization STAV (Students Against Authoritarian Rule) who have been blocking the work of the Rectorate of the University of Novi Sad, the second-largest university in Serbia, for two weeks, demanding regular conditions for the elections for the Student Parliament of the Faculty of Philosophy, ended this form of protest today and announced new ways of fighting.

They stated that they ended this form of protest because the building „became an oven,“ as the Rectorate’s administration turned off the air conditioners on days when the outside temperature was around 40 degrees, and it was announced that the heatwave would continue into the next week.

They added that such a move shows how much the rector cares about students, as he is willing to „torture“ young people in this way, as „he obviously does not understand that professors receive salaries thanks to students and not the other way around.“

„The Rectorate building is entirely glass and has become unbearably hot, and it is hard to breathe, considering that most windows cannot be opened, as the building is designed that way,“ the students told journalists.

They realized that rector Dejan Madić and the president of the Student Parliament Ivana Macak refuse any possibility of negotiations to improve conditions for participating in the elections for the Student Parliament of the Faculty of Philosophy, despite the rector’s promises in meetings with students that there would be negotiations.

„We realized that there are no agreements or negotiations with the rector and the student representatives, that they can do whatever they want, and that the inspection still does not react, that no one can stop them. This is the country we live in. You can stop the institution’s work for 15 days, and their arrogance has no end,“ said STAV activist and student Mila Pajić.

She announced that STAV will block every next election for the Student Parliament of the Faculty of Philosophy.

„We are preparing for new victories, new actions. Every next election will be blocked; their mandate lasts until December, they will not be able to turn a blind eye forever. We will not waste our energy on their arrogance, we will not let them tire us out. Their strategy did not work. They can expect us again,“ concluded Pajić.

During the protest, students hung banners on the Rectorate building with messages against rector Dejan Madić. He repeatedly asked the security to remove the banners, but the students did not allow it, after which the police also came, identified the students, and left.

The students entered the Rectorate building on Sunday, June 30, and stayed there all the time, sleeping inside, under the protest motto „One list is not a choice.“

In the previous days, they hung large banners on the Rectorate building with messages like „Dejan Madić SNS rector,“ „Madić progressive liar,“ „Rector, it is not nice to lie,“ „An ox is held by the horns, a man by his word. What are you, Madić?“ and „Ivana Macak, do you sleep peacefully?“

Students from STAV previously stated that they received reliable information that the rector is „preparing a scenario“ for their eviction from the building.

„Last week, an extraordinary meeting of the deans of the faculties of the University of Novi Sad was held, chaired by rector Dejan Madić, and the only agenda item was us, specifically the blockade of the Rectorate’s work. We wonder why the same kind of meeting was not urgently convened when the building of our Faculty of Philosophy was blocked for four days,“ the students from the STAV organization said at the time.

They added that during that meeting, it was mentioned that the police would evict them, that they would be evicted by „new security, i.e., SNS thugs,“ and that criminal charges would be filed against them.

„We call on citizens, colleagues, and professors to be on alert if such violence against us happens. This would be the first time in the history of the University of Novi Sad,“ the students said.

From March 28 to 31 this year, the student parliaments of the University and the Faculty of Philosophy organized a blockade of the Faculty of Philosophy, with an ultimatum to the faculty administration that Professor Dinko Gruhonjić must be fired due to alleged hate speech.

Rector of the university Dejan Madić supported the blockade of the faculty at that time, as did the vast majority of the deans of the faculties belonging to the University of Novi Sad.

The only deans who opposed the blockade were those of the blocked Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Natural Science and mathematics.

According to media reports, many of those who participated in the blockade were not students but employees in public and communal enterprises connected to the Serbian Progressive Party.

Gruhonjić was accused of hate speech based on a fabricated video in which he was falsely portrayed as a supporter of Ustaše war criminals from World War II.

Gruhonjić and his family were subjected to a three-month lynching campaign, which included high-ranking government officials, forcing them to live with private security provided by the European Federation of Journalists.

Due to all this, Gruhonjić recently received a high accolade, the Human Rights Award of the German city of Weimar, on the proposal of Reporters Without Borders, the Society for Threatened Peoples, and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.

The blockade of the Rectorate’s work began because elections for the Student Parliament of the Faculty of Philosophy were planned for last Monday, which, according to STAV, was illegitimate because the Statute of the Faculty of Philosophy and regulations stipulate that elections can only be organized in the faculty building.

They blocked the elections twice in the faculty building, and this is their second blockade of elections in the Rectorate building.

Students from the STAV organization filed disciplinary complaints against the president of the Student Parliament of the Faculty of Philosophy Ivana Macak and election committee member Aleksandar Gajić for physical violence.

Ivana Macak slapped STAV activist Mila Pajić in the Faculty of Philosophy building on May 21, while Aleksandar Gajić also physically attacked colleagues during the election blockade.

The Movement of Free Citizens previously announced that Macak and Gajić have been employed in the Assembly of Vojvodina in the meantime, which journalists confirmed at that institution.

Ivana Macak was also first on the list of the Russian Party in the local elections in Novi Sad, but that list did not pass the electoral threshold.

On Wednesday late in the evening, students from STAV were attacked by an unknown man who physically attacked them and threatened them.

As the students recounted, two female students left the Rectorate building and headed towards the bus stop when a young man emerged from the darkness and began threatening them.

„He said that his father was in the ‘red berets’ and that he ‘slaughtered children in Sarajevo’ during the war. He threatened us and physically attacked our colleagues whom we called for help,“ the female students said.

They added that the police then arrived, arrested him, and stated that he was drunk and „probably drugged,“ and that a misdemeanor charge would be filed against him.

The female students gave statements to the police about the incident.

This is the second time „red berets“ have been mentioned in the context of the Faculty of Philosophy. The first time was on March 28, when the blockade of the Faculty of Philosophy began.

At that time, one of the blockade participants entered the faculty building wearing a T-shirt with the image of Milorad Ulemek Legija and a banner saying „My son, just never like Dinko.“

Milorad Ulemek Legija was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, another 40 years for the murder of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolić, and 15 years for the attempted assassination of former opposition leader Vuk Drašković.

Last week, two loud explosions were heard near the Rectorate one evening, after which the police came to the scene.

(Autonomija)