The explanation of the verdict, as carried by the media, reads that "most master's theses at Croatian universities have been copied without anyone being called to account, so there is no reason to call a politician to account".
The Ministry said in its statement that the claim about the copying of scientific works being a regular and normal occurrence at Croatian universities was not true and that it deeply insulted the Croatian academic community.
This is a joint position of Croatian university chancellors, the Croatian Students' Corps and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, adopted at a session in Zagreb today.
"Without going into the details of the ruling itself, we state that the false and blanket claim made by the judge... constitutes an encroachment upon the values which promote scientific work and motivate young people to join in scientific and educational processes," reads the statement.