Deputy Prime Minister Bojan Maricic warned that Hristijan Pendikov may be faced with different crimes, including insulting the country of Macedonia. Pendikov was badly beaten up in February, allegedly because of his promotion of the Bulgarian national identity, and was quickly transported for treatment to Bulgaria. His case is now one of the main reasons why Bulgaria is reverting to the veto of Macedonia’s EU accession talks.

Media outlets close to the Government have reported that Pendikov has a criminal record linked to drug trafficking and that this was probably the reason for the attack, which only increases accusations from Bulgaria that his attack is being covered up by the Macedonian authorities. The Justice Ministry is trying to reach Pendikov in Bulgaria and have him report for trial in Ohrid, over his beating, but he is at the moment unlikely to attend, especially after Maricic insisted that he may be charged with both the incident and hate speech statues.

His claims need to be proven. It is not true that he was attacked because he declared to be a Bulgarian. We don’t justify violence against anybody. But for the accusations and insults toward Macedonia there can be criminal responsibility. We call on the prosecutors to do their job, in every case where there is hate speech, denigration of our people and of our dignity. Pendikov can’t be an exception, Maricic said.