What happened: On 20.09.2020, around 00:15 a.m., А. R. (26) (a member of a football fan club) was assaulted by O.S. (24) (who assaulted him with a knife) and А.B. (18) (both members of another football fan club) while accompanied by other individuals in the City Park. Immediately after the case was reported, police officers undertook measures and activities and the case was solved and the perpetrators detained.
Brief description of the incident with bias indicators: In this incident the bias motives are the ethnic origin and the location where the incident happened (the City Park), as well as the fact that it was among football fan groups, with the bias indicators being:
- Ethnic origin – the victims and the attackers belonged to a different ethnic community;
- Pattern of previous incidents – Previous assaults near the stadium and between football fans.
Impact on the victims and the community: These types of incidents call into question the general safety in the country and aggravate the ethnic polarization, leading to an additional increase in hate crimes caused by different ethnicities. The 26-year old stabbed male was urgently transported to a private hospital due to severe bodily injuries and is still recovering.
