Official figures record 18 cases of ethnically motivated hate crimes.
Croatia reported that three unidentified perpetrators threw Molotov cocktails at a Roma man.
Croatia reported an assault against a gay man.
UNHCR provided figures similar to the official ones, quoting the Interior Ministry as the source and noting that eight of the reported cases targeted the ethnic-Serb minority.
UNHCR reported two cases in which Roma were targeted, citing figures from the Interior Ministry. According to UNCHR, charges were brought in one case.
UNHCR reported that two persons received suspended sentences after being convicted for crimes committed against persons base on the victims’ sexual orientation.
The European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling in the case of Beganović v. Croatia. The applicant was a young man of Roma origin, who had been physically assaulted by a group of young men. He complained that both the attack and the lack of proper investigation into the incident were related to his Roma origin. While the Court found no evidence that the attack on the applicant had been racially motivated, the case nonetheless reaffirms states’ duties under the European Convention of Human Rights to actively investigate and prosecute potentially racist crimes when there is a reasonable appearance of bias motivation.