In the case of his students at the European Business School, Finance Professor Raša Karapandža is very popular. In his home country is Serbia, he is treated with hostility because he has messed with the powers that be.
“Karapandža” sounds like a threat. At the time of the Ottoman domination on the Balkan was a Turkish nickname, it means “black hoof”. A contrast to the diminutive figure, and the quiet voice of the 41-year-old Professor Raša Karapandža. “I’m more like a Hobbit,” he jokes during a conversation with DW in his office in Wiesbaden, European Business School (EBS).
Karapandža has a soft spot for Fantasy. He promises his guests, to show them later in a Cabinet on the Campus of the University, the look like from the Hogwarts school of wizardry that Harry Potter attended.
Although he jokes a lot, laughs Karapandža rare. A Professor through and through, just without a tie. It was outdated, a shirt rich today. But he firmly believes that morale for a teacher should never go out of fashion.
Why else would a respected Finance Professor who teaches at the oldest private University in Germany would, in the meantime a visiting Professor at New York University and worldwide will be courted, with cases of plagiarism in Serbia deal? Why should he create with the Powerful in the old country, where the policy still controls the media, judiciary, and apparently universities?
“The same, you can then also professors questions, which exposed the plagiarism of the former defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg,” says Karapandža. “That’s my Job.”
Cotton is grown in Serbia?
Five years ago, documented Karapandža on the Serbian opinion portal “Peščanik”, as the then mayor of Belgrade, Siniša Mali have made his doctoral thesis on privatisation in transition countries generously from other works, without naming sources.
Mali borrowed from documents of the privatisation Agency, which he headed earlier, but also from scientific texts of other authors. So the Public heard in Serbia by a certain Dr. Stifanos Hailemariam from Eritrea. “His work has taken on Mali is easy and in a bad Translation, with all the graphics,” says Karapandža and displays the Text on his Laptop. The Serbian politicians had even been to lazy to rework the examples about the production of cotton, a little bit of: “cotton, which is for Eritrea is very important, of course, will not produced in Serbia. He could have at least instead of raspberries call,” says Karapandža.
But Siniša Mali is not just anyone. The rich Finance the politicians has very good relations with the strong man of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, ruled the Balkan country for the past seven years with an iron Hand. Many of the scandals, on the few government-critical media in Serbia reported, among other things, the talk of dirty dealings, dubious assets and even domestic violence against his ex – wife-crashed in Mali was.
He is far from the only politician in Serbia, the plagiarism is alleged. A group of young Serbian scientists, who teach in the UK, the doctor works to the interior Minister, the mayor of Belgrade district, as well as the Governor of the Central Bank in question.
Recently it became known that the Minister of the interior Nebojša Stefanović, also one of the closest Confidant of the Serbian President, has not acquired his diploma properly. He “studied” at the London location of the private Serbian University “Megatrend”. This alleged University in the English metropolis, has turned out to be a DW-Research five years ago as a letter box company.
Siniša Mali called Karapandža “Twitter-Professor”
The Opposition and critics, this “Elitisten”, would not care to Know, but only to academic titles, replied Vučić in a separate article in the government newspaper “Politika”. “The Form should be the most Important, that’s why they are the Elite and we, the Rest, toothless Pack,” wrote the President, ironically, and took his Ministers in the protection. Thus, the thing is for him from the table.
“Attention Horny Anonymus”
In contrast to other leading politicians of the progressive party, Minister of Finance of Mali, not a PhD, however, trusted to ask private College, but in the tradition of the Belgrade University. One of the University Ombudsman Commission came to the conclusion that Mali had taken some 14 per cent of his doctoral work – but it was still acceptable.
Karapandža doubted the independence of the Commission. Their members are not financial experts, and one of them don’t speak English are. How should he compare the work of the Serbian politician with those from Eritrea? “The ehamlige Minister zu Guttenberg has lost because of the eight paragraph of his doctor title. In the case of Siniša Mali, we are talking about dozens of pages,” is a Professor Karapandža to bear in mind. German politicians, however, were no angels, would occur after such an affair, just harmless back. Karapandža still remembers the sentence of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel: you have ordered Guttenberg finally, as a Minister, “and not as a scientific wizard.” It was but the pressure from the media and academics, who chased him from the office.
In Serbia, however, most of the silence. For the past five years, Raša Karapandža is vilified in Pro-government media as “attention Horny anonymous,” Mali has referred to him recently as a “Twitter for professors”. The tabloid “Alo” even wrote to the President of the European Business School and asked him to fire Karapandža. In Wiesbaden, the allegations were taken seriously, an independent Commission of balanced Karapandža.
The students have elected him ten times in a row for the Professor of the year. How does he explain his popularity? “I’m terribly well organized. And the Emails are important! My response time for questions from students is, on average, six minutes.”
The case of Mali employs him still, now the Belgrade University has requested additional explanations from the competent faculty. Karapandža would like to be in a Commission, but the call remains.
He never think about it, to Serbia, to return to the run the gauntlet of the local tabloids has him confirmed in this decision. “Besides, I like Wiesbaden. We are well integrated,” he says in the name of his wife and his son.
At the end of Karapandža leads his guests into a room that is a little reminiscent of Hogwarts. Solid wood, deep armchairs, the heavy, Royal red curtains. On the walls are portraits of former rectors and deans of the University depend. “My picture’s not on it. Not yet,” he says and finally has to laugh himself.