Students of SFU Branch in Makhachkala complain of extortions; bosses deny everything

Students of the Makhachkala Branch of the Southern Federal University (SFU) have addressed their anonymous letter to various instances stating that the branch bosses extort bribes from teachers and students. The letter was also published in the public reception office, on the SFU website, in the section "Questions to Rector" on December 23, 2010.

According to the data posted by anonymous source on the SFU's official website, students are regularly signing their scholarships sheets, but don't receive them. Repairs are made in the branch premises at the expense of students. Against this background of unenviable position of teachers and students, the bosses of the Makhachkala Branch are annually buying real estates and foreign-made cars, the appeal notes.

It tells further about the fate of the New Year bonuses allotted to teachers: "The lady-Pro-Rector forces teachers to take the amount from their bank cards and bring it to her; she says that she wants to please the Rector, that is, her husband, on the eve of the New Year... Teachers go to classes without proper inspiration..."

This letter was the basis for auditing the branch by officials of the parent university; then, the second letter, dated December 27, 2010, appeared on the website of the SFU, where anonymous students thanked the top managers for their reaction.

The letter to the Rector of the SFU runs: "Now they force our teachers to sign applications to the name of the Rector, refuting the data in the anonymous letter."

The teachers of the branch refused to speak openly with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the current situation in the branch. According to their story, after the audit a "witch hunt" started in the branch. "Somehow, they suspect teachers (of disseminating the anonymous complaint of extortions, - note of the "Caucasian Knot"). I guess they think that our students are all stupid and unable to express (albeit anonymously) their civil position," said a source, who preferred to remain anonymous.

In the course of the audit, as teachers claim on condition of anonymity, they were forced to sign applications, initiated by the branch bosses, because they do not want to lose their jobs; while students were forced to express their civil position anonymously, because of the risk to be expelled from the university.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about the situation in the branch from Islam Klichkhanov, a former lecturer on economic disciplines at the Makhachkala Branch of the SFU, now the chairman of the Dokuzparin Branch of the Party "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) for the Republic of Dagestan and the assistant to the chairman of the party.

Mr Klichkhanov had worked at the branch for a year, and, as he claims, was forced to resign, because his principles "were contrary to the situation there, first of all to the practice of extortions." According to his story, students wrote anonymous letters earlier; they wrote that students had been forced to pay tens of thousands of roubles for receiving diplomas with honours, for the right not to attend military training, etc.

Islam Klichkhanov asserts that the Makhachkala Branch of the SFU is controlled by a clannish system - the Rector of the Branch is Emirbek Emirbekov; his wife Alimat Emirbekova is Vice-Rector of the Branch. Most of the teachers are close relatives of the Emirbekovs.

According to Klichkhanov, he held his own investigation; the facts of extortion had confirmed.

He added that students were also forced to make non-specific works - repair classrooms in the branch premises before they moved into a new building in Groznenskaya Street in Makhachkala. The parent university allotted money; however, students had to make repairs at their own expense.

Director (Rector) of the Makhachkala Branch of the Southern Federal University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry Emirbek Emirbekov has noted: "Maybe there're some specific facts - I can't answer for every teacher."

In answer to accusations that money was collected from students to repair the branch premises, Mr Emirbekov has noted that students' scholarships are small; and the repairs were made by Magomed Gadjiev Factory, from which the branch had rented the premises.

"I myself addressed law enforcement bodies asking them to check the signal (the anonymous letter, - note of the "Caucasian Knot"). They said: "Sorry, but we don't consider anonymous letters," said Emirbekov and added that the content of anonymous complaints is all slander.