Police in Kosovo Clash with Protesting Students

Five policemen and about a dozen students were injured in Pristina on Thursday when anti-riot police used pepper spray and batons to disperse protesters demanding the resignation of the dean of the Kosovo capital's university.

Student prevented by police from entering the university building threw rocks and stones at anti-riot units cordoning off the main gates of the compound, an Agence France Presse reporter at the scene said.

The students have been peacefully blocking the rectorate of Pristina University for seven days, demanding the resignation of its dean Ibrahim Gashi and a number of teaching staff.

The protest followed a series of local media reports that Gashi and several university professors have forged academic works by publishing false scientific studies in fake journals.

Students say their protest was provoked by the failure of Kosovo government and justice to investigate reports and root out corruption among the academics.