Member of the Council of the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) prof. Dr. Danica Popović has been under the attack of tabloids for a long time, which unfoundedly and flatly judge and qualify her academic work as well as her personality. They are in public now came out and "underground" influences with "benevolent" threats exerting pressure on the Ethics Commission of the Faculty of Economics in order to bring about the condemnation of prof. Popović for allegedly plagiarizing textbook translations.
On this occasion, MASA emphasizes that it will always strongly oppose the disqualification of colleagues based on the practices of repressive institutions. Writing falsified letters from fake addresses with threats, in which the rector of the University of Belgrade is falsely involved, is not only a criminal offense, but also represents brutal pressure on actors not to oppose the public lynching of Prof. Popović, and for us it also represents an attack on the University of Belgrade. We are particularly concerned that a letter of this content is not an isolated case.
The Ethics Committee should adopt and communicate its opinion based on professional assessment and ethical standards prescribed for academic work. Defending the right of members of the academic community to freely express their professional and critical opinions, MASA will firmly advocate for the defense of the autonomy of university bodies from external, including any political pressures and manipulations. At the same time, we do not want our colleagues to be the subject of investigations and condemnations by university bodies for actions that are not related to their academic work and academic titles. Other authorities are responsible for such possible procedures. Today, despite the opinion of the Expert Commission, someone's profession is publicly questioned on the basis of an individual position on the translation of a text that is treated flatly as a scientific paper from the economic sciences. MASA will always react strongly to attempts to apply clichéd public standards of morality to academic work in order to influence the decisions of university bodies.
We expect the EF Ethics Commission to make the right decision in the case of Danica Popović, just as we expect colleagues and fellow members of the academic community to stand in solidarity against such pressures that create an atmosphere of fear where everyone is a potential target.
