Assistant education minister assaulted

Assistant education minister assaulted

BELGRADE -- Education Minister Srdjan Verbic has announced that his assistant for development and high education was attacked on Thursday morning.

Verbic told a meeting of the Council for High Education that Milovan Suvakov was in the emergency center where he was receiving IV fluids and was conscious.

The minister described the attackers as "hooded lice with bars," and specified that his associate had suffered head injuries.

He added that Suvakov was to receive the annual award if the Institute for Physics on Friday, while last year he was a recipient of the City of Belgrade award.

The minister also said:

"There's no need to mention how many powerful people there are in education and tycoons who wish to achieve their goals. I can promise on behalf of the ministry that it will not stop us and if (high education institutions') accreditation was strict, it should be even more so."

When asked, Verbic said he did not knew who Suvakov had a quarrel with.

President of the Council for High Education Dejan Popovic said that "the time has come for the academic public to stand behind the assistant minister," expressing his concern over the incident, and expectation that the perpetrators will be found.