BRATISLAVA, January 21, (WEBNOVINY) – The Student Strike Committee (SVS) has filed a criminal complaint against an unknown offender for slander and damaging other person’s rights with the Prosecutor General Office this Friday. “We demand examining the activities aimed at discrediting and politicizing the student protests against a phased introduction of paid university study through the advanced payment of the health insurance,” said the strike committee coordinator Karol Klobusicky. SVS responds to misusing Klobusicky’s mail and claims that the attacks do continue. By filing criminal charges SVS dismissed allegations that the gossip on preparing a strike in coordination with the Trade Unions Confederation (KOZ) and the SMER-SD party is their own PR.
Last Sunday evening, the media received a statement signed by the strike committee coordinator Karol Klobusicky, according to which Klobusicky and another coordinator, Michal Feik, met with SMER and KOZ representatives and agreed on a strike in the first week of February. The Committee refused the information. The e-mail containing the disinformation was sent from a mail account, which Klobusicky had used several years ago. The TA3 reporter, who decided to verify the information received by e-mail, prevented the SVS campaign from further damage, said Klobusicky.
SVS is protesting against the draft amendments to the laws on health insurance and on the universities, which will increase the costs of education to some of the university students. According to the draft on health insurance, since January, students older than 26 years and Ph.D. students older than 30 should be obliged to pay their health insurance. Only unemployed external students and Ph.D. students, who end their Ph.D. before reaching the age of 30 and not studying longer than three years. Prime Minister Iveta Radicova promised the Student Council of the Slovak universities an amendment to the law, which can restore the situation back to the state before the recently valid amendment was adopted. “We expect the Prime Minister to fulfill her promise also regarding the Ph.D. students, who will be relieved of the obligation to pay their health insurance,” stated SVS.
The Strike Committee also disagrees with the amendment to the law on universities, which plans to introduce tuition fees for the external study. The change is coming after the Constitutional Court ruled to be unconstitutional if one group of external students has to pay for their education – and the rest doesn’t. The Education Minister Eugen Jurzyca and the Slovak Rectors’ Conference Libor Vozar defend tuition fees for external students. According to Vozar, otherwise the universities would lose 25 million euro annually.
SITA