What happened: The walls of the primary school Gjorgi Sugarev in Bitola were painted with swastikas
and graffiti saying “Death to Gypsies” and “Gypsies, die”. Most of the students in the school are of
Roma ethnicity (about 80%). After the reaction of an informal group of citizens, representatives of
the Roma community from the Municipality of Bitola, the graffiti and swastikas were removed. The
case was reported to the local office of the MoI in Bitola.
Date, time and location of the incident: 19 January, around 00.30, PS Gjorgi Sugarev, Bitola
Source of information: Tera TV – Bitola
Victim(s) involved: Other than material damage, there were no victims in this incident.
Type of crime(s): Inciting Hatred, Discord or Intolerance on National, Racial, Religious and other
Discriminatory Grounds (Article 319, CC), Racial and other Discrimination (Article 417, CC), Damage
to Objects of Others (Article 243, CC)
Perpetrator(s): Unknown perpetrator.
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: In this incident, the bias motive is racial
discrimination, while the bias indicators are:
1. The content of the graffiti –The insulting and threatening messages are directly aimed at the Roma
ethnic community;
2. Target location – the messages are written on the wall of a school where the majority of pupils
belong to the Roma ethnicity.
Status of the case: Under investigation.
Response of the local authorities: The MoI’s response to the MHC request for public information
regarding this incident stated that the crime was “Damage of Objects of Others”, which is prosecuted
upon the filing of a private lawsuit, and that SIA Bitola was working to clarify the incident and identify
the perpetrators.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: This incident brings into question the security of the
various ethnicities in the country.
