What happened: On 22.08.2020, the TV station Sitel shared a short video posted on the social network TikTok, which features three individuals recording an assault on one person. The ethnicity of the assaulters in the video is “marked” (with the Albanian flag) as well as that of the assaulted (with the Macedonian flag). Still, the conversation between the assaulters and assaulted cannot be heard because it was muted and replaced with music. MOI released a news statement, informing that they are working on solving the case and would dully inform the public of the outcome.
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 attackers belonged to a different ethnic community;
- Pattern of previous incidents –assaults against young people on streets, near schools, on busses.
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.
