A man from Gostivar spread racial contents via Facebook

What happened: On 18.03.2019, around 5:00 p.m., at the Sector for Internal Affairs Tetovo it was reported
that B.S. (63) from Gostivar, posted on his Facebook profile a status with racial and xenophobic contents.
B.S. was detained at the Police Station Gostivar, and once the case is solved, proper charges are going to
be pressed against him.
Date, time and place of incident: 18.03.2019, 5:00 p.m., Facebook, Gostivar.
Source of information: MOI’s daily newsletter, emagazin.mk.
Victim(s) involved: No victims.
Type of crime(s): Spreading Racial and Xenophobic Material via an Information System (Article 394-d, CC
of RNM).
Perpetrator(s): One identified perpetrator, B.S. (64) from Gostivar.
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: In this incident the bias motive is ethnicity, with the bias
indicators being:
1. Ethnicity – the perpetrator spread hate speech against a different ethnic community;
2. Pattern of previous incidents – very often social media, particularly Facebook, are used as a
platform for this type of incidents.
Status of case: Unknown.
Response of the local authorities: On 24.04.2019 criminal charges for the crime “Spreading Racial and
Xenophobic Material via an Information System” were pressed before the PPPO Gostivar, pursuant to 394-d
from the CC of RNM. The criminal offence was qualified as a hate crime.Impact on the victims and the community: These types of incidents call into question the general safety in
the country and the co-existence among different ethnic groups in society.