Students: If Police Come, There Will Be More of Us

The blockade will continue until minister Primorac gives a concrete promise about free education.

ZAGREB, CROATIA - “The blockade will continue until minister (Dragan) Primorac gives a concrete promise that our demands are fulfilled” said a student from Zagreb’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. This was said at the faculty plenum that is held every night at the faculty, just like all the other blocked faculties have their plenums.

After two weeks of blockades, they consider that they are closer to their aim because they have great support. They are proud that the public support their aim together with the idea of equality and opposition of commercialisation.

They reject the claims that their battle for free education is a battle for eternal students, and they repeat that the Bologna system does not allow such things to occur.

There will be no incidents from our side

Considering that the University Senate ordered that classes be organized at faculties for Monday, the students stress that in the case of repressive measures they will offer passive resistance, which means that they will sit on the floor where they happen to be at the time and wait to be carried out.

“There will be no incidents on our side. Incident methods are not our methods. That is a civilised protest for the defence of rights” said the students.

When asked what they would do if the police came and stopped them from entering the faculty, the students said they would not use force.

“If the police came, then the number of students that are protesting would suddenly increase. Solidarity amongst students would rise and the number of students that support the blockade” said the students.

They repeat the statement of the dean, who said that the police can only come to the faculty “over my dead body”.

Classes moving to other faculties

There is a possibility that classes will be moved from the blocked faculties to other faculties which are not blocked or other premises, for students that do not support the blockade.

The website of the Croatian Studies faculty asks students to bring their student identification inn order to enter the building, which is a measure to ensure that no blockade occurs there.