Serbian Protesters Urge 'Plagiarising' Minister To Quit

The protest held in Belgrade's main square against the Interior Minister was organized on Facebook by group called “Citizens against Nebojsa Stefanovic." 

It has attracted more than 4,200 likes and reflects the anger felt by some over claims that Minister Stefanovic plagiarised parts of his PhD thesis on local government.

“In normal countries, when your plagiarised work is discovered, you resign. We feel angry that academic principles are broken constantly in Serbia," Pedja Mitrovic, who created the group on Facebook, said.

“This protest is just the beginning of our actions as we are serious in our demands that the minister should quit," Mitrovic added.

The allegations follow Sunday's publication of an article by three British-based Serbian academics on the site Pescanik.net entitled: “How to get a PhD? Easy! The case of Nebojsa Stefanovic.”

They claimed the minister had plagiarized parts of his thesis on strategic management in local government, citing the relevant parts of Stefanovic’s work.

Ugljesa Grusic, Branislav Radeljic and Slobodan Tomic told Balkan Insight that they had read the thesis in detail and stood behind the claims in their article.

Several professors from the University of Belgrade have also analyzed Stefanovic’s PhD thesis, accusing him of breaking academic rules.

Stefanovic and his mentor, the rector of Megatrend University, where he studied, have denied the allegations.

The minister has also been defended by the Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic. The allegations were “the most stupid thing I have read in my life”, he said.

After the Pescanik.net site went down following publication of the story, the protesters also signed a petition condeming what they see...

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