What happened: An employee at the Secondary School “Arsenij Jovkov” in Skopje reported that outside the
school yard, a 16-year-old student from the village of Studenichani was attacked by another minor, and that
several other minors and students from the school had later joined the fight. The attacked minor sustained
bodily injuries, and the case was reported to the police.
Date, time and location of the incident: 09 March, 16:00, in front of the schoolyard of State Secondary
School Arsenij Jovkov in Chair, Skopje.
Source of information: Electronic media outlet Kanal 5 TV.
Victim(s) involved: 1 minor (age 16).
Type of crime(s): Violence (Article 386, CC), Bodily injury (Article 130, CC), Participation in a fight (Article 132, CC) Perpetrator(s): Group of minors one of whom has been identified.
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: The bias indicator in this incident which occurred in
front of the schoolyard of a secondary school located in Chair (mixed ethnic environment) is ethnicity, and
the bias indicators are:
1. Difference in ethnicity – the attacked minor and the minor attackers are of different ethnicity (Macedonian
and Albanian);
2. Pattern of previous incidents – clash and conflict between students from different ethnicities occur very
frequently, particularly in the capital of the country. These incidents most often take place between
children of Macedonian and Albanian ethnic origin, while the other communities are very rarely or never
involved in such incidents.
3. Location – The incident took place in a secondary school attended by students of different ethnicities
and in a neighborhood populated by people of different ethnicities.
Status of the case: Unknown.
Response of the local authorities: MoI’s response to our request for information states that after the
undertaken measures and activities, a minor male was found to be the perpetrator, and that they are taking
additional measures and activities to discover the identity of the remaining persons involved in the incident.
Furthermore, it is stated that after completing the documentation, adequate charges would be pressed to
the PPS (note: in such cases the Law on Justice for Children applies and the proceedings for children at risk
and children involved in crime differs from the one stipulated with the LCP (Law on Criminal Proceedings)).
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.
