Probe of Serbian Student’s Death Fuels Political Tensions

Officers from the Anti-Corruption Department of the Criminal Police Directorate raided the University of Belgrade Rectorate offices on Tuesday. They seized servers and other equipment used to store surveillance camera recordings. The operation is part of the investigation into the death of a 25-year-old female student. The young woman died after falling from a fifth-floor window at the Faculty of Philosophy on the night of March 26.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade requested the collection of evidence from the Anti-Corruption Department. This followed suspicions that criminal offenses of negligence and abuse of official position had been committed. The university, however, argued that items unrelated to the case were seized. The University of Belgrade stated that it respects the law and cooperates with the relevant authorities. However, it denounced that its willingness to cooperate to clarify the truth was being abused.

The university stated that the incident was being used for political purposes and condemned what it called a "shameless campaign" by tabloid media. After the news of the student's death became public, pro-government tabloids launched a campaign to discredit the Rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Djokic, and the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Danijel Sinani. Informer and other pro-government tabloids claimed that Djokic and Sinani were responsible for the student's death due to inadequate security at university faculties.

Djokic and Sinani had expressed their support for students protesting against the government since the Novi Sad train station disaster, in which 16 people died. Education Minister Dejan Vuk Stankovic stated that the ministry must "take over the baton" in managing the faculties from negligent deans to protect students. Stankovic accused the university of turning higher education institutions into platforms for political activity. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic also accused the deans and the rector of being responsible for the student's death.

The EU's ambassador to Serbia, Andreas von Beckerath, urged everyone involved to "refrain from politicizing and instrumentalizing this tragic incident". He also asked the media to "show respect" in covering the story. Opposition MP Djordje Pavicevic, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at Belgrade University, said that Brnabic was trying to insinuate that there was a causal link between the student movement and the tragedy at the Faculty of Philosophy.