SPLIT POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS BEGIN PROTEST

SPLIT, Oct 27 (Hina) - A general strike of students of the Split Polytechnic was officially announced for Tuesday, but classes were discontinued and students began protesting against the Croatian government's decision to integrate the polytechnic into Split University on Monday. #L# According to students' spokeswoman Maja Cvitan, lecturers and all staff of the polytechnic joined in the protest. Students have urged the citizens of this central Adriatic city to support them. The signing of a petition against the government's decree has been organised, with 7,000 signatures collected by noon Monday, according to Cvitan. Some 10,000 students are enrolled at this institution. About 7,000 attend classes in Split, while the rest did so at the polytechnic's outlets in Ploce, Metkovic, Solin, Sibenik, Knin, Gospic, Zagreb and Vukovar. Spokeswoman Cvitan said that not only students in Split but others in the above-mentioned towns were also protesting. She dismissed assertions that the polytechnic's dean, Boris Anzulovic, masterminded the students' protest. Anzulovic told Hina that the government's decree was not based on the law, describing it as an expression of political violence in the run-up to the parliamentary elections. He urged the government to revoke it. "Pressure is being exerted on me, the polytechnic and students. Police were sent and tried to enter my office. The students' spokeswoman has been called to report to the police," he said. A spokeswoman for the Split-Dalmatia County police, Tina Disopra, issued a press release describing Anzulovic's claims as untruths. According to the press release, police officers held a meeting with Ms. Cvitan to inform her, as a representative of students, on the obligations and duties of the strike's organisers in compliance with the law on public assemblies, given that she earlier notified the police that students were planning to hold a peaceful protest rally on 30 October. Science and Technology Minister Gvozden Flego, who held a news conference in Zagreb today, reiterated that the government passed the decree in order to make it possible for students to get diplomas which would be recognised. The disorder at the former polytechnic was such that no data was available about the exact number of students or lecturers, and the Science Ministry was not be given basic information about its activities and curricula, Flego told reporters. The minister added that the issue concerned Croatia's relations with Europe, namely strict standards regulating international co- operation in higher education, which forces Croatia to introduce some order in tertiary education. The minister also voiced regret that some students decided to join in the strike, as it was not certain whether this action was the expression of the students' will or political manipulation. He added that Anzulovic was collecting signatures for a petition for the 'salvation' of the polytechnic but also for his candidature for a seat in the Croatian parliament. During its flagship news programme on Monday evening, Anzulovic was quoted by Croatian Television as calling on political parties to voice their stand on the issue of the polytechnic during their campaigns in the run-up to the elections. Luka Podrug, the leader of the non-parliamentary right-wing Croatian Pure Party of Rights (HCSP), was quoted by the same television as calling on protesters to hold out until the elections when the incumbent authorities would be toppled and their decision on the Split Polytechnic annulled. (hina) ms sb