According to student Enes Džogović, around 4 a.m., masked men stormed the building, shouting “fire,” “police,” and “get out.” Students soon realized that university administrators, including Rafet Alić, Izet Camo, and Vice-Rector Milovan Bratić, were among them. Students say the attackers used force, pushing and dragging them, with one student hospitalized due to injuries.
After being expelled, students called the police, who refused to intervene when they arrived. Later, when students re-entered the building through a laboratory window, they were again met with violence. Eventually, 30 to 50 police officers formed a cordon, preventing students from re-entering. According to Džogović, the university administration, including the university’s Rector Zana Dolićanin, then entered the building.
The university released a statement claiming that its “security service” had escorted students out due to safety concerns over a potential chemical or fire hazard, as well as to prepare for the new academic year. They blamed the protesters for extensive material damage and alleged that individuals not enrolled in the university had also been present. The university claims students re-entered through a window “intending to create chaos,” and physically attacked staff and security personnel.
According to Predrag Voštinić, a city councilor in Kraljevo and member of the Local Front party, these individuals are not unknown but belong to a private security firm from Kraljevo.
“Those who stormed DUNP included a small number of police and people working for a private security firm from Kraljevo called Security Guard 036. These are literally the same individuals who acted arrogantly toward us in Kraljevo, and now they’ve been paid to come to Novi Pazar. This agency is registered for personal and property security and has a license. However, if you look more closely at their operations, they have massive contracts with local governments, especially in Kraljevo and Raška, and this year their budgets have suddenly increased. Since there has been no rise in the number of people or facilities to protect, it’s clear the perceived threat is from citizens on the streets. So now we, the citizens of Kraljevo and everyone funding these budgets, are effectively paying our own thugs,” Voštinić tells Mašina.
Voštinić called the raid a blatant violation of university autonomy, a fundamental Constitutional right. “Not even state force apparatuses should enter a university unless summoned by a dean, let alone private security. If we overlook such basic principles, we’re left shocked by the kinds of criminals allowed to enforce ‘order’ on university campuses,” Voštinić said.
The police have not confirmed involvement in the raid but are stationed outside the building. An incident occurred when someone in the crowd threw a bottle at Nermin Ljajić, chief of the local police department.
The Academic Plenum, a group of faculty from Novi Sad and other universities, has issued demands earlier today, including: the immediate resignation of DUNP’s Rector Zana Dolićanin; a full and independent investigation into the masked raid, including the identity of those involved, chain of command, and potential police involvement; the resignation of the Education Minister for failing to respond to the violation of university autonomy; and the immediate withdrawal of all masked individuals from the university grounds.
“If the academic community doesn’t act now, masked men in black will ‘put out fires’ on behalf of the regime tomorrow in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, and Kragujevac,” warned the Academic Plenum.
This evening, citizens’ assemblies have organized protest blockades in support of the students across dozens of neighborhoods in the capital, Belgrade, as well as in Niš, Kraljevo, Užice, Zrenjanin, Obrenovac, and Velika Plana.
A.G.A., M.P., A.M.
