Patrol Police Dispersed Professors Twice

Twice Patrol Police Disperse Protesting Professors

Professors of Tbilisi State University do not plan to give up their struggle and demand the resignation of the Head of the University, Gia Khubua. With this demand they have been gathered in the University for over three days now. The Patrol Police, who came to the scene yesterday dispersed the protest and forced the professors to leave the University building twice. Despite this, the professors continue protesting in front of the University. The University itself is now guarded by police.

The reason for the protest is a competition that has been announced by the university called ‘About Higher Education’, which does not coincide with the law. Professors have sent a letter to the President, demanding Khubua’s resignation. They also demand that the General Prosecutor launch a case against him. This second decision was made after the police dispersed the protesters.

Before the police came, the professors insisted on meeting with Khubua. The meeting took place, however the two sides did not agree. “There is no use in talking with Khubua”, said Jemal Mebonia, the professor who was participating in the dialogue.

“It is impossible to talk with him. We agreed to have discussions only after the competition was stopped. However, he is not going to cancel the competition. The only way out is his resignation. After the way they dispersed the professors, we don’t think that we can do anything with dialogue. What should we talk about? They have to leave as soon as possible. I do not want to talk to a person, who breaks up a protest of professors with police.”

The professors are sure that the President will support them; if not, they plan to hold massive protests and ask the various institutions and society to assist them.
Khubua is not going to resign and plans to implement his reforms. “I am ready for dialogue, however the only topic, which cannot be discussed is the competition. I think they are afraid of not passing the exams. I called the police, because the professors were abusing the law. I am not going to resign!” says Khubua.

Meanwhile, the professors talk about violations of the law and illegal competitions. According to them, staff should have been moved to new positions first, then councils should have been elected and only after that should they be able to announce competitions. The Head of the University started his reforms with what should have been the very last step.

Today is the forth day of the protest in the University. Several professors were injured during the dispersal of the protest. The Head of the University calls on them to stop the protest and participate in the competition. “The deadline for submission of the documents is the 23rd of June. The University will invite professors on contracts as well. The number of contractors will be defined by the curriculum. The fact that the University will choose eight hundred professors does not mean that the University will only have 800 staff” says Khubua.

Eka Gulua