Vučić called for the persecution of Dinko Gruhonjić to continue
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić continued the persecution of professor and journalist Dinko Gruhonjić with his statement yesterday, supporting the violent blockade of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad.
It is unprecedented for a president of a country to address university professors in such a manner, telling them “shame on you,” fully aware that the video which initiated the witch hunt against Dinko Gruhonjić was edited and that he did not praise any war criminal. It seems Aleksandar Vučić has forgotten that individuals have lost their lives following such media campaigns.
As the most powerful man in the country, Aleksandar Vučić is sending a message to the hooligans to continue with the blockade, mimicking some kind of reenactment of a “spontaneous gathering of a people” in which Dinko Gruhonjić is meant to serve as an example of what will happen to anyone who questions the Radical hornet’s nest of Vučić’s regime. Vučić’s behavior towards the autonomy of university and the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad mirrors that of Milošević’s attitude towards the autonomy of Vojvodina, while an organized mob of hooligans wearing t-shirts with the image of the murderer of Prime Minister Đinđić simulates a new “happening of the people.”
Violence stems from words, and with his address, Vučić has called for the violence to continue. This is unacceptable, and he will personally be held responsible for any consequences of this violence! While threatening university professors, Vučić did not once refer to the hooligans who, wearing t-shirts with Legija’s image, blocked the faculty and expelled professors and students from it. We insist on calling them hooligans, not spontaneously gathered students, because only hooligans would wear Ulemek’s image on their shirts in Zoran Đinđić Street, where the faculty is located.
We are very concerned for the safety of all professors and employees at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad and all those students who, together with their professors, opposed the aggressors who occupied the faculty. Vučić stands behind the discipline imposed on the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, and there is no doubt about it. We call on the University of Novi Sad, as well as the Universities of Belgrade, Niš, and Novi Pazar, to support their colleagues, and we call on students from all faculties in Serbia to defend their colleagues whose teaching has been hindered by the hooligan blockade. It becomes clear that by defending the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, we are defending every person in Serbia and their freedom.
