In recent months, the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) has continuously been in a position to defend its academic colleagues while the official institutions remain mute and blind to the growing pressures to which the professors of the University of Belgrade are exposed. Professor Biljana Stojković was detained last night with the use of force because she dared to write "STOP VIOLENCE" graffiti with a group of activists on the sidewalk in front of the Serbian Parliament. We believe that she meant media and political violence, but not violence by the police, although we had the opportunity to watch their crude demonstration of force on the streets of Belgrade in July 2020, and for which no one has yet been held accountable. Then, as now, academic workers were detained. In order not to allow a gross violation of authority to go unpunished again, MASA demands that all the circumstances of the detention of Professor Biljana Stojković and other activists who were detained together with her be investigated. It is truly incredible that in a country where hate graffiti is tolerated, even publicly defended and sponsored, excessive force is used against those who use their graffiti to call for an end to the violence. All this is a mirror of the neglect of academic values and the active promotion of the culture of violence that permeates all structures of this society.
Coordination Board of MASA
