Belgrade Cultural Director Axed For Criticism

Zaric was kicked out of her office on Friday following a phone call from the Cultural Secretariat, which is in charge of the Centre, telling her that a new acting head was being appointed.

According to Zaric and her colleagues, the decision breaches the Statute of the Cultural Centre, as she was not given a proper deadline to prepare for the handover.

"The handover will be done; all I am asking for is a few days to prepare the financial, programme and other reports so the handover is done properly," Zaric told BIRN.

The dismissal follows her public criticism of a decision of the City Assembly of Belgrade on October 24 to hold the October Salon every second year instead of annually.

The October Salon has been running for 55 years and is Serbia's leading contemporary review.

"I think this is a very stupid move because I was going to resign anyway," Zaric said, adding that she had informed the Steering Committee about her leaving.

Vladan Vukosavljevic, from the Cultural Secretariat, told the daily newspaper Danas that Zaric was being dismissed because of her "incorrect and unprincipled opposition to the founder [of the festival]."

However, Zaric told BIRN that her dismissal was "entirely a political decision - because I am not a supporter of the ruling [Serbian Progressive] party."

The newly-appointed acting head of the Belgrade Cultural Centre, Ivona Jeftic, declined to dicuss the matter with the media on Friday.