What happened: An unknown person using fl ammable liquid caused a fi re in the church “Sv.Zlata
Meglenska” in Saraj, Skopje, thereby igniting and destroying the front door of the church.
Date, time and location of the incident: 14 January, around 2 o’clock after midnight, in the Municipality
of Saraj, Skopje
Source of information: Daily newspaper “Dnevnik”.
Victim(s) involved: Aside from the material damage, there were no victims of this incident.
Type of the crime(s): Damage to objects of others (Article 243, CC), Causing hatred, discord or
intolerance on national, racial, religious and other discriminatory ground (Article 319, CC).
Perpetrator(s): Unknown perpetrator
Brief description of the incident with bias indicators: In this incident, the bias motive is religion or
belief and bias indicators are:
1. Location of the incident – an Orthodox Christian Church in a predominantly Albanian environment.
Status of the case: Under investigation
Response of Local Authorities: In MOI’s response to the Committee’s request for public information
regarding this incident, it is stated that SIA Skopje submitted a report on the inspection of the crime
scene to the Public Prosecutor’s Offi ce in Skopje.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: This incident calls into question the safety of different
religious communities in the country.
