What happened: Todor Petrov, the President of the World Macedonian Congress (WMC), was physically
attacked by several unknown persons after the consecration of the cross’s foundation stone in Butel
where he attended the laying of the foundations of the 51-meter cross, the construction of which
was an initiative of WMC. According to the media information, Petrov was given medical aid at the
Emergency Center in Skopje.
Date, time and location of the incident: 27 February, at 12:17, “Kazablanka” Restaurant in Butel, Skopje.
Source of information: Electronic Medium Emagazin, Daily Newspaper Dnevnik, electronic medium
Lokalno, National TV medium Telma.
Victim(s) involved: One person.
Type of the crime(s): Violence (Article 386, CC), Bodily injury (Article 130, CC), Participation in a fi ght
(Article 132, CC).
Perpetrator(s): A group of several perpetrators.
Brief description of the incident with bias indicators: In this incident which happened at a sporting
event, the bias motive is ethnicity, nationality or language and bias indicators are:
1. Perception of the victim – according to the statement issued for the media, the victims perceives
the incident as bias-motivated;
2. Time – the incident happened shortly after the consecration of the cross’s foundation stone in Butel;
3. Location – The incident occurred in an area inhabited by a population of different ethnicity and
religious affi liation;
4. Nature of violence – the incident took place in public;
5. Lack of other motives.
Status of the case: Filed criminal charges against three suspects for the attack.
Response of Local Authorities: In MOI’s response to the Committee’s request for public information
regarding this incident, it is stated that SIA Skopje submitted the criminal charges to the Public
Prosecutor’s Offi ce in Skopje.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: This incident calls into question the safety of different
religious communities in the country.
