{"id":220422,"date":"2026-10-24T14:35:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=220422"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:35:33","slug":"fifth-belgrade-gymnasium-teacher-suspended-again-i-have-the-right-to-speak-out-and-support-my-colleague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/fifth-belgrade-gymnasium-teacher-suspended-again-i-have-the-right-to-speak-out-and-support-my-colleague\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFTH BELGRADE GYMNASIUM TEACHER SUSPENDED AGAIN: \u201cI have the right to speak out and support my colleague!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

History teacher Marko Pi\u0161talo from the<\/em><\/strong> Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium<\/em><\/strong><\/a> has been removed from teaching duties again, eight months after he was previously suspended, and new disciplinary proceedings have been launched against him. He told N1 that he was suspended again after teaching just one class, with the reason being the publication of a photograph with a dismissed colleague alongside a quote from a work by Danilo Ki\u0161.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill they intimidate us? No, they won\u2019t. It is my right to speak out, to stand up against injustice, to support a colleague, and to protest against injustice. The price has been a suspension, a three-month penalty, and now another suspension. That price is really not too high for me, although I live for the day when doing such things will cost nothing,\u201d the teacher emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pi\u0161talo said he returned after eight months of \u201cinvoluntary absence,\u201d and that the school\u2019s legal adviser told him to come and collect the decision after he had taught a class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought it was a decision allowing me to return to work, but it turned out that they let me teach one class only to hand me the decision removing me from work again after that single class,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teacher added that the official explanation, as they put it, was that he had \u201cinsulted people whom he had neither mentioned nor named, thereby offending their dignity and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I actually did \u2014 as opposed to their interpretation \u2014 was publish a photograph with a colleague who was completely unjustifiably dismissed. I included a quote from Danilo Ki\u0161\u2019s book A Tomb for Boris Davidovich<\/em>,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he added, he wrote: \u201cBoris Davidovich, do not give in to the sons of bitches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith that, I alluded to precisely the same situation that is now happening to my colleague, without any intention of mentioning anyone personally or specifically. After all, it is an interpretation of a literary work, and anyone who has attended school \u2014 and we have all attended at least primary school \u2014 understands that a literary work is not interpreted literally. I put the quote in quotation marks; the situation could refer to anything or anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pi\u0161talo also said that he had been suspended eight months earlier, also because of Instagram posts and, as he put it, \u201ca false complaint about alleged inappropriate conduct, supposedly signed by a girl who attended that school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe explicitly denied it when called by the former school principal, saying that she had filed no complaint. Her mother said the same. That was not enough for them, even though the complaint was obviously false and did not describe a single specific incident. They imposed a three-month suspension on me and filed a criminal complaint based on that false report,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he added, the new acting principal took over, or inherited, his case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first thing he did after I gave my statement was call my legal representative and offer a settlement. He waved some kind of criminal complaint around and said he would withdraw it if I resigned voluntarily,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teacher stressed that pedagogical principles were also being violated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe same thing is happening to people who are being stripped of their homeroom teacher positions. All of this is justified by the principal\u2019s authority. The only explanation is that they can do it,\u201d he said, adding that these are colleagues who have been working for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that disciplinary proceedings last six months, by which time a final decision must be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPast practice has shown that the school administration makes maximum use of that period and keeps us suspended for as long as possible,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source:<\/strong> N1<\/a>, Foto:<\/strong> N1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

History teacher Marko Pi\u0161talo from the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium has been removed from teaching duties again, eight months after he was previously suspended, and new disciplinary proceedings have been launched against him. He told N1 that he was suspended again after teaching just one class, with the reason being the publication of a photograph with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":220423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[253,14617,5376,794,113,3032],"class_list":["post-220422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serbia","tag-beograd","tag-marko-pistalo","tag-peta-beogradska-gimnazija","tag-profesor","tag-srbija","tag-suspenzija","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t