Nearly 4,500 University Professors Support Students

Student protests (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)

Close to 4,500 university professors have publicly supported students, their protests and demands in an open letter.

"Dear citizens of Serbia, we, the lecturers, associates, and researchers at universities across Serbia, are standing firmly by our students in this joint struggle for a better society," the university professors were explicit.

They strongly condemned every attempt by the authorities to intimidate students, including by publicly sharing their private information, spreading falsehoods about them, and sending police officers and Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) agents to their homes and their parents’ homes.

The petition was organized by the newly formed Free University, an informal academic network of employees from the University of Novi Sad. The network emerged in response to student blockades, aiming to provide unconditional support for the students' demands.

The network announced that it would organize a protest march in Novi Sad, on Jan. 18, involving university lecturers and researchers marching under the slogan 4,000 Professors, 4,000 Steps.

"The march is a show of solidarity with students exposed to pressures exerted by not only tabloids, but also Serbia's security services. At the same time, it is a gathering to support the preservation of the integrity of the University of Novi Sad, which has been undermined by the unprofessional behavior of its rector, Dejan Madic," the Free University said in its call for action.