Police raid on University of Belgrade condemned

A police raid on the University of Belgrade has been condemned by sector groups, who have also rallied behind the institution’s rector, warning that recent actions taken by Serbian authorities undermine academic freedom in the country. 

In separate statements, the Coimbra Group and Circle U expressed solidarity with students and staff at the university and called on European governments to take action to protect academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

Their criticism comes after police raided the university’s rectorate in late March following the death of a 25-year-old student. Authorities said they were acting under a court order as part of an investigation into the woman’s death after she fell from a window at the Faculty of Philosophy building. 

The university said in a statement shortly after the raid that the cause of the death was unknown and an investigation was ongoing. 

In a speech after the police search, university rector Vladan ​Djokić denounced the search of university offices as a “crackdown on freedom of thought” and an attempt to intimidate the academic community.

He said officers had entered the premises without legal explanation and seized computers and servers that were unrelated to the case. “Rectorate computers contain no information relevant to the investigation,” he said. “But that is not the point. The point is the image: the police in the rectorate, the rector under investigation, the university on its knees.”

Tensions have soared between Serbian authorities and anti-government protesters, many of them students, following months of demonstrations that began after a deadly building collapse in Novi Sad in December 2024. Protesters have accused president Aleksandar Vučić’s government of corruption and negligence.

The Coimbra Group said it stood in solidarity with the university’s leadership, staff and students. 

“Recent reports of police raids on university premises, the use of force against peaceful gatherings, and the arrest of students in their homes for exercising their fundamental rights, point to a worrying escalation,” it said. “These events follow sustained student mobilisation for accountability and transparency and raise serious concerns about respect for civil liberties and the autonomy of higher education institutions.”

Circle U, a European university alliance of which the University of Belgrade is a founding member, called on Serbian authorities to end what it described as intimidation of students and faculty, and urged European governments and the wider international community to respond decisively and show solidarity with the university.

“As close partners of the University of Belgrade, we cannot remain silent when the autonomy and independence of a member university are placed under strain. Threats to academic freedom in one country affect the integrity of the European academic community as a whole,” it said.

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com