April 9, 2018

Damage to gravestones in the village of Brnjanci

Incident
Causing national, racial or religious hate, discord or intolerance
Incident due to religious affiliation or religious belief

What happened: On 09.04.2018, at 09:30, it was reported to the Sector for Internal Affairs in Skopje that
in the village of Brnjanci, Skopje region, an unknown perpetrator had damaged some of the gravestones in the
local cemetery. Measures are taken to fully clarify the case.

Date, time and location of the incident: 09.04.2018 at 09:30 h, village of Brnjanci, Skopje.
Source of information: MoI’s daily newsletter.
Victim(s) involved: none.
Type of crime(s): Damage of Objects of Others (Article 243, CC), Desecration of a grave (Article 400 of CC),
Perpetrator(s): unknown perpetrator(s).
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: The bias motive in this incident is religion and the bias
indicators are:
1. Pattern of previous incidents – Such cases where religious objects or gravestones were damaged had
occurred previously as well.
2. Location – The incident took place in the village of Brnjanci where cases where religious objects or
gravestones were damaged had been registered previously, along with religious and ethnic intolerance.

Status of the case: Unknown.
Response of the local authorities: MoI’s response to the request for information stated that this case has
been registered as the crime of Desecration under Article 400 of the CC, a report had been sent to PPPO against
an unknown perpetrator and they were looking for the perpetrators.
Impact on the victims and the community: This incident calls into question the ethnic co-existence of the
two major ethnic communities in the country.

Address
с. Brnjarci, Skopje.
Location Name
с. Brnjarci, Skopje.

Number of victims
-
Identity
Witness
Number of Perpetrators
1
Status of the case
Under investigation
Type of incident?
Destruction of property
Incident location
Religious building
How did the police react?
They investigated the incident
Have there been similar incidents / crimes in the same location?
Yes
Damage to gravestones in the village of Brnjanci image

Criminal offences

Against Property
Damage of property
Against the Public Order
Desecration of a grave

Grounds

Religion or belief