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Diese Protestnote der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung unterzeichneten Präsident und Generalsekretär des deutschen P.E.N.
Note of Protest
to:
President
of the Republic of Serbia
Mr Boris Tadić
Minister of Culture
of the Republic of Serbia
Mr. Predrag Marković
Minister for Internal Affairs
of the Republic of Serbia
Ivica Dačić
We have been informed that the Government of the Republic of Serbia has decided to dismiss the writer Sreten Ugričić from his office as Director of Narodna Biblioteka Srbije. We also learned that the background of this decision lies in the fact that Sreten Ugričić signed a petition of support for his Montenegrin colleague, the writer and journalist Andrej Nikolaidis, after a text of Nikolaidis had been discussed in the Serbian media in a misleading way.
Among all the signatories of the petition of the “Forum of Writers” Sreten Ugričić had been the only one who accounted for his signature through a statement, which in the meantime is also accessible to the Serbian public. There he explains his vote given for Andrej Nikolaidis as a vote “for the protection and the respect of the intellectual, human and democratic rights of Andrej Nikolaidis and in favor of his personal safety and integrity”.
Sreten Ugričić, in his statement, wisely makes clear that – even if Nikloaidis’ text may provide a “reason for controversy”, this by no means justifies the campaign which has been launched in Serbian media. This is why he gives higher priority to the protection of the authors’ rights.
Sreten Ugričić is an outstanding Serbian writer and he is serving his country, the Republic of Serbia, in his office as director of the National Library in as well an outstanding way. His expertise as a librarian enjoys the highest recognition among his international colleagues.
We, the undersigned, cannot find any reason in either the text of Nikolaidis, or the petition of the Serbian “Forum of Writers” or in the personal statement of Sreten Ugričić explaining his signature of the petition, which might in any way justify his dismissal from the position where he was working since years for the benefit of the society of Serbia.
We express our deep disagreement with the decision of the Government of Serbia. It is certainly not a decision in favor of the Serbian readers and researchers and the entire intellectual community of that country.
Veranstaltungs-