Meeting of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior expanded collegium
| Banja Luka | Friday, 08/07/2022
On July 8, 2022, the Republic of Srpska Minister of the Interior, Mr Dragan Lukač, held an extended collegium with his associates in Banja Luka, where the half-yearly work of the Ministry was analysed.
Minister Lukač stated that in the first six months of this year, the Republic of Srpska MoI submitted 2,753 reports against 3,143 persons to the competent prosecutor's offices based on suspicion that they had committed 3,200 criminal offences. He pointed out that the total number of criminal offences decreased by 6.6 percent compared to the same period in 2021, and the coefficient of the total detection of criminal offences increased. He also added that the number of criminal offences of general crime decreased by 8 percent, with an increase in the coefficient of overall detection.
Minister Lukač stated that 282 criminal offences against life and body were recorded, and that 993 cases of drug abuse and 265 criminal offences of economic crime, as well as 145 criminal offences of corruption, were discovered. In addition, he said that the number of criminal offences had decreased by 50 percent in local communities where the police established a video surveillance system of public areas as part of the "Safe City" project.
Minister Lukač emphasised that the video-surveillance had been installed in 54 local communities with the aim of protecting citizens and their property, but also fighting against crime, terrorism, and other forms of disturbing security and public peace and order. Furthermore, he added that there was no evident migrant crisis on the territory of the Republic of Srpska and that police officers registered 479 migrants who illegally crossed the BiH border, which is 88.1 percent less compared to the same period in 2021.
Minister Lukač pointed out that the MoI continues to deal with all MoI members who cooperate with criminals, and noted that two traffic police officers were arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes.
The Republic of Srpska Police Director, Mr Siniša Kostrešević, said that the state of security in the Republic of Srpska was satisfactory, and that the police fulfilled all tasks imposed upon them. He added that the police should face two more challenging events this year – the commemoration in Srebrenica and the general elections.
Referring to the current security events, director Kostrešević said that the person Jovan Jošilo was arrested three days ago in the Republic of Croatia, and that his extradition was expected. He pointed out that the Srpska MoI was intensively searching for this person, and that his arrest was the result of satisfactory cooperation with police agencies in the area, as well as with Europol.
