What happened: On 09.02.2020, after a previous misunderstanding with another passenger on a public bus, line no. 45, S.U. was assaulted by two controllers of the Public Transport Company. One of the controllers selected S.U. out of the entire bus, demanding to see his ticket. While S.U. was reporting the incident on the emergency phone line 192 and was talking to a police officer, the controllers were threatening to hit him, shouting and exhibiting violent behaviour towards him. They grabbed him by his arm and forced him out of the bus, during which S.U.’s mobile phone fell down. During the entire incident the individual was talking to a police officer on the telephone. After the controllers forced him out at a bus stop, they deprived him of his ticket by force to inspect it, and then threw it on the ground. One of the controllers lit up a cigarette, threatening to put it out from S.U.’s forehead. Before they left, they threatened him again, telling him he had no idea who he was dealing with.
On 25.02.2020, the Helsinki Committee pressed criminal charges against X.X., employed as controllers at the Public Transport Company for having committed the criminal offence Racial and Other Discrimination, Article 417 of the Criminal Code of RNM.
Brief description of the incident with bias indicators: In this incident the bias motive is ethnic origin, with the bias indicators being:
- Ethnic origin – the victim and the attackers belonged to a different ethnic community;
- Location – previous assaults against individuals on public buses.
Impact on the victims and the community: These types of incidents call into question the general safety in the country and the cohabitation among different ethnic groups in society.
