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A Croatian nun who claimed she was stabbed by a Muslim migrant shouting religious phrases fabricated the entire incident, police announced Tuesday, concluding that the 35-year-old woman inflicted the wound on herself.
The Zagreb Police Directorate said Marija Zrno purchased a knife from a Zagreb store and self-inflicted an abdominal injury on November 28 before falsely reporting she was attacked by an unknown assailant. The case triggered a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment across the country of 3.8 million after claims spread on social media that a foreign attacker had targeted the nun in a religiously motivated assault.
Zrno was admitted to a Zagreb hospital with a minor abdominal injury from a sharp object and was discharged on December 1. She then filed a police report claiming an unidentified man had stabbed her while yelling "Allahu Akbar," suggesting the attack was motivated by religious hatred.
Police conducted extensive interviews with multiple witnesses and analyzed evidence that contradicted Zrno's account. Investigators traced the knife to a Zagreb retailer and determined the nun had purchased it shortly before the alleged incident. Authorities plan to file criminal charges against Zrno for falsely reporting a crime, according to the police statement.
The fabricated attack rapidly gained traction on social media over the weekend, with some users calling for mass deportations of migrants and foreign workers. Conservative politician Marijana Petir amplified the claims on social media platform X, writing that the purported assault represented an attack on Croatian and European values rooted in Christianity.
The Croatian Catholic Church initially issued inflammatory statements about the incident but later reversed course after police findings emerged. The church acknowledged that unverified claims about an attack on a nun by an unidentified man had proven false through the criminal investigation, stating that no evidence showed a crime had been committed against the woman.
Zrno has a public profile in Croatia primarily through her sports broadcasting work. She hosts programs on Laudato TV where she presents football coverage and discusses sports as a means of building community connections and sharing joy, which she has described as inseparable from spiritual life.
During World Cup tournaments, she launched a "Prayer for the National Team" initiative that drew participation from thousands of Croatians of various ages across the country. Her combination of religious devotion and sports enthusiasm made her a recognizable figure in Croatian media.
The police investigation into the November 28 incident in Zagreb's Malesnica neighborhood uncovered inconsistencies in Zrno's statements. After conducting interviews and gathering physical evidence, investigators determined the information she provided did not reflect reality. The discovery that she had purchased the knife prior to sustaining the injury provided crucial evidence that led police to conclude she had staged the attack.
The Zagreb Police Directorate emphasized that its comprehensive investigation, which included speaking with numerous individuals, revealed no evidence supporting the existence of a foreign assailant or religiously motivated attack. Authorities said the fabricated report wasted investigative resources and inflamed social tensions at a time when immigration remains a contentious political issue across Europe.
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