What happened: SIA Kumanovo pressed criminal charges against D.V. (42) from the village of Agino Selo,
Kumanovo region, on the grounds of reasonable suspicion for having the committed criminal offence
“Spreading Racial and Xenophobic Material via an Information System” and “Endangering the Safety”. The
individual reported posted a text on his Facebook profile with a threatening content, inciting to violence
against MPs. The crime was qualified as a hate crime by MOI.
Date, time and place of incident: Precisely undetermined date and time, on the social network Facebook,
MOI pressed charges on 22.01.2019.
Source of information: MOI’s daily newsletter.
Victim(s) involved: Undetermined.
Type of crime(s): Endangering the Safety (Article 144, paragraph 4, CC of RNM), Spreading Racial and
Xenophobic Material via an Information System” and “Endangering the Safety (Article 394-d, CC of RNM).
Perpetrator(s): One identified perpetrator (D.V. 42).
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: In this incident the bias motive is political affiliation,
with the bias indicators being:
1. Pattern of previous incidents – inciting and spreading ethnic hatred and inciting violence on
social networks is becoming a more common method for committing hate crimes.
Status of the case: Criminal charges pressed.
Response of the local authorities: Criminal charges pressed for the cited criminal offence (Article 144
Endangering the Safety and Article 394-d Spreading Racial and Xenophobic Material via an Information
System” and “Endangering the Safety from CC of RNM). The crime was qualified as a hate crime.
Impact on the victims and the community: These types of incidents call into question the general safety
and the political stability of the country.
