What happened: A group of approximately 40 members from the Sports supporters group Komiti,
prior a football game they attended on, assaulted and bit up minors in a public bus No. 2. From
there, they went to the sport hall Boris Trajkovski in Skopje, where they disturbed the public peace
and order, got into fights among each other, and threw small objects towards the players on the field.
When the Police intervened, the fans attacked the officers, and one of them threw a heavy object,
injuring one police officer.
Date, time and location of the incident: February 9th, in Skopje, in the public transportation bus No.
2 and in sports hall Boris Trajkovski in Skopje.
Source of information: The national printed media Dnevnik.
Victim(s) involved: Several (precise number unknown) minors from Albanian nationality and a Police officer.
Type of the crime(s): Bodily Harm (Art.130 CCRM), Damaging of other’s property (Art.243), Violence
(Art.386), Endangerment of safety (Art.144), Assaulting a police officer while he conducts a matter
related to security (Art.383), Incitement of hate, discord and intolerance on national, racial religious
or other discriminatory ground (Art.319).
Perpetrator(s): 40 members of the Sports supporters club Komiti, Macedonians.
Brief description of incident with bias indicators: In this incident, the bias motive is the ethnic origin,
citizenship or language, and the bias indicators are:
1. Difference between perpetrator and victim on ethnicity – The public bus No. 2 route includes Saraj, a large
village inhabited predominantly by Albanians, so it can be logically assumed that the passengers of
this bus will have similar ethnical belonging as well, and therefore be targeted by the members of
Komiti.
2. Location and timing – The incident occurred in a public transportation bus No. 2, whose line leads
to a village with predominant Albanian ethnic structure. It was followed by a sports match the
perpetrators attended, and continued committing crimes at.
3. Pattern / frequency of previous incidents – This supporters club has, on numerous previous occasions,
manifested open violence towards members of the Albanian community.
4. Nature of violence – The incident was carried out in public.
Status of the case: Charges pressed by the police.
Response of local authorities: The police stated via the media that it has brought up charges against
seven of the perpetrators, and additional 14 have been fined. They didn’t specify the acts on which
they were charged or fined.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: This type of incidents brings into question the general
political situation in the country and the cohabitation between the Macedonians, on one side and
the Albanians as the two largest ethnic communities in the society. It also endangers the public’s
feeling of safety during sports manifestations.
