About one-thousand students at Belgrade university have staged a protest against the dismissal of teachers under a new law which strengthens government control over the universities.

The students gathered inside the Philological Faculty to demand the reinstatement of ten teachers dismissed by the dean of the faculty Rodoljub Marojevic.

The law was introduced by the Serbian government about a month ago and correspondents say the dean has used it to demand that staff sign declarations of loyalty, which many have refused.

Protests against the law have been spreading.