More than 700 thefts for two months in Kosovo

Until, in the first quarter of this year alone, over 700 cases of theft have been recorded.

The regions where these cases of theft have occurred, according to the Kosovo Police, are the largest centres, until as a city, evidently more cases occurred in Pristina.

Kosovo police during 2018, under suspicion of involvement in banned activities, have arrested 15, 481 suspects.

Kosovo Police spokesman Daut Hoxha tells Radio Free Europe that cases of theft have marked decline over the years, yet it remains disturbing as a phenomenon.

Hoxha adds that Kosovo police take all necessary actions, including bringing leaders of these acts of theft to justice organs.

Various acts occur in Kosovo, as in other countries, various criminal activities are committed. So more than five thousand thefts were recorded during 2018. As of this year, referring to the data on the first quarter police information system at the level of Kosovo, it is: recorded 724 thefts committed, 74 in the attempt. These acts, it is not possible to disappear, there is no place in contemporary life that has eliminated crime altogether. Kosovo police, with their activities, target reducing any of these illegal activities. Compared to the 2013-2015 period to the three-year-old 2016-2018, thefts have marked a 21 - percent drop, says Hoxha.

By late December of last year, a police officer had been killed in office while trying to apprehend a suspect in a bank robbery in the city of Istog, where he was later killed, the man suspected of robbery was also killed.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, on the outskirts of Pristina, police had confirmed that a person had remained killed while trying to rob a private house.

Avni Islami, security field expert, tells Radio Free Europe that cases of armed theft are very disturbing. He says this form of theft has marked growth in Kosovo.

Kosovo's <x0 years as phenomenon, with particular emphasis, were made in the next year, but even this year, despite a lower trend, but the way they carried out with that of firearms is being characterised, which this form of theft has not been previously on this level. So, despite the number of theft rates, the risk of armed groups committing theft or armed robbery is continuing, and that is disturbing for citizens”, he points out.

For citizens, stealing has become a disturbing phenomenon in the neighborhoods where they live. Dardan Syla, a citizen who lives in a Pristina neighbourhood, says he does not feel so secure.

There were several cases in my neighborhood when thefts were committed by people who were never identified by police. That fact frightens you when you hear that the neighbor's apartment or his bar was broken and things were stolen. This has not happened to me, but it scares me every time I close my apartment and go to work or anywhere else”, he says.

According to the Republic of Kosovo Penal Code, the theft is classified as the work when another person receives the property, which is valued in the amount of 50 euros and more, with the aim of illegal embezzlement for himself or the other person.

Those who commit theft or robbery with the use of force or serious tinging for the other person, with the aim of embezzlement of violent property, are sentenced to imprisonment of between three and 12 years.