Original article(in Serbian) was published on 11/2/2026; Author: Stefan Kosanović
After the expanded Senate of the University of Novi Sad refused to elect associate professor Jelena Kleut – known for her vocal support of students during their protests and blockades – to the position of full professor, the Faculty of Philosophy of Novi Sad issued her a termination notice in mid-January. This came despite the Expert Council for Social Sciences, a body of the Senate itself, confirming that she met all required conditions for the promotion. The Administrative Court has since rejected her request for temporary reinstatement, a decision Kleut and her lawyer learned about not through official channels, but from a tabloid that published the complete ruling alongside manipulative claims that she had been “definitively dismissed.” Kleut told Raskrikavanje that the case is far from over, and announced lawsuits against the media outlets that have been targeting her and her colleagues for months.
Following the decision of the expanded Senate of the University of Novi Sad not to elect associate professor Jelena Kleut to the position of full professor, the administration of the Faculty of Philosophy issued her a termination notice on January 20th of this year at the Department of Media Studies — even though the Expert Council for Social Sciences, as a body of the Senate, had previously made a positive decision regarding her election to the title, confirming that Kleut meets all prescribed conditions.
Kleut had publicly supported her students during the student blockades and is also active in the “Free University” initiative, which is why part of the public placed this decision in the context of retaliation.
Court of First Instancet and the Administrative Court were asked to temporarily reinstate Kleut to her position as associate professor, pending a final ruling in the ongoing proceedings concerning her election to the title of full professor.
The courts rejected this request.
Kleut and her lawyer first learned of the Administrative Court’s decision through the pro-regime portal NS uživo, which published the complete court ruling along with a text containing false and manipulative claims.
The same text and photographs were subsequently picked up by the portals 24sedam, Vaseljenska, Sremske vesti, and RTV Bačka Palanka, while the portals 025.rs and Vojvođanski.com published only the misleading text, without the complete court document.
In these texts, the portals gleefully declare that “Kleut has been definitively dismissed from the faculty,” as well as that “it has been officially confirmed that she will not be elected to the title of full professor” — even though this decision relates exclusively to the request for her temporary reinstatement.
However, as Kleut told Raskrikavanje, the entire case is far from over, since both the Administrative Court and the Court of First Instance have yet to examine the details of the lawsuit and take a position on the claims made in it.
In the photographs published by the tabloid portals, the official reception stamp of the University of Novi Sad is clearly visible. The Rector of the University of Novi Sad, Dejan Madić, did not respond to the questions we sent him regarding how a document bearing an official seal ended up in the media.
Professor Jelena Kleut told Raskrikavanje that she believes the court sent the ruling to both her lawyer and the university on the same day, and that the university promptly forwarded it to the tabloids.
“I think it was important to them to have it published, without any consideration of the possible consequences, so that a final point could be put on my election to the title as quickly as possible. That is why the entire tabloid glosses over the fact that this is a decision on an interim measure and falsely claims that the matter is settled,” says Kleut.
She also added that she will be suing the tabloids over their months-long targeting of her and her colleagues.
“Texts that perpetuate lies and insults, creating an atmosphere in which neither I nor my colleagues feel safe, will be the subject of separate lawsuits,” Kleut stated.
Students and employees at the University have organized support protests for Professor Kleut on several occasions. During the protest on January 21st, the institution was also blockaded, after which Dean Milivoj Alanović called the police.
The police then, using excessive force, violently removed students and professors from the faculty building.
University Statement First in the Tabloids
This is not a new practice – information has leaked from the University of Novi Sad exclusively to tabloids on previous occasions as well.
For example, a statement by the rectorate and the deans’ collegium of the University of Novi Sad, published at the beginning of December 2024, in which the blockades were condemned and it was stated that there is no place for politics on the faculties, appeared in the tabloid Alo before being published through the University of Novi Sad’s official channels.
Since certain faculties had supported the students’ demands and were clearly not in agreement with the views expressed, the preliminary release of the disputed statement to the media could have misled the public and created the impression that the “deans’ collegium” stood behind the statement by consensus. The deans of the Academy of Arts and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics did not agree with the statement’s content, and the Teaching and Scientific Council of the Pedagogical Faculty in Sombor subsequently also expressed its disagreement with the statement.
The tabloid Alo later backdated this news item, indicating that it had been published after the University’s official announcement. However, using the Wayback Machine archival service, the original version of the page was preserved, showing the actual date of publication. The dates on the comments below the article remained unchanged, and through them it is also visible that the text was published earlier than stated.
The student blockades in Serbia were sparked by the collapse of a newly renovated railway station canopy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, which killed 16 people and became a symbol of the country’s systemic corruption and government impunity — triggering a nationwide movement demanding accountability, transparency, and rule of law.
Translated in English using AI tools, then thoughtfully refined by a human editor.
