STATE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE SAYS CRIME RATE CURBED

ZAGREB, July 24 (Hina) - Croatia's government was briefed on Thursday about a report on the performance of the State Prosecutor's Office in 2002, which shows that the Office has made significant progress in its work, that crime growth has been curbed after a long time, and that the number of reported crimes and perpetrators has dropped one percent. #L# Chief state prosecutor Mladen Bajic said he was satisfied with the results. Backlog cases have been halved, a trend that has continued this year, and all of them might be cleared by the end of 2003, he said. Last year the number of murders was down 13 percent from 2001, the number of crimes against property was down 15 percent, while juvenile delinquency decreased by 16 percent, said Bajic. The Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime has been recording significant progress in the uncovering and processing of corruption, he said, but added that in only two cases of organised crime was it proved that the perpetrators were criminal organisations. Last year 244 persons were reported in connection with organised crime, of whom two percent were organisers, seven percent were members of criminal organisations, while the rest were organisers and members of organised criminal groups. The illegal transfer of foreigners across the border is the most frequent crime perpetrated by criminal groups, although Interior Minister Sime Lucin said the number of illegal emigrants had dropped by as much as 71 percent in the last 18 months. The other most frequent crimes committed by criminal groups are car theft, drug trafficking, money forgery, and fraud. Government members and Bajic underlined the need of prosecuting economic crimes more effectively. (hina) ha