MINSK, 8 December (BelTA) – Belarus' law enforcement fully controls the situation in the country, Prosecutor General Andrei Shved told reporters prior to the National Coordination Meeting on Combating Crime and Corruption hosted by the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History, BelTA has learned.
The government officials are set to discuss measures to combat recidivism and review progress in fulfilling the president's instructions for law enforcers to increase the efficiency of work to detect and investigate crime.
“The National Coordination Meeting on Combating Crime and Corruption will review progress in implementing the instructions of the head of state to ensure the inevitability of punishment for extremist crimes, as well as to raise the effectiveness of efforts to counter recidivism. Objectively speaking, we maintain public safety on the streets, the law enforcement fully controls the situation in the country. Any manifestations of extremism and terrorism will be suppressed, the culprits will be punished,” Andrei Shved said.
At the same time, he deems it necessary to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of this work. “Law enforcement stepped up efforts to detect crimes committed earlier. More and more people who thought they would never face justice end up in court. We should double down on these efforts. The main task is to make sure that everyone who has encroached on public safety and the security of our state is brought to justice,” the prosecutor general added.
Speaking about recidivism, Andrei Shved recalled the president's instruction to keep this issue under constant control. “This matter is discussed annually at the national coordination meeting. The recidivism rate has dropped slightly. However, we are very concerned that a quarter of such serious crimes as murder, bodily harm and rape are committed by people who were convicted of criminal offenses before. Of particular concern is the fact that despite a large number of booked jobs, the employment rate among these people is low. More than 70% of them (those who relapsed into criminal behavior) are not employed. The task is, among other things, to find ways, in coordination with other government agencies, to get more repeat offenders into jobs,” Andrei Shved noted.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, as a result of a set of measures to reduce recidivism, in January-September 2021, the number of crimes committed by people having uncancelled conviction decreased from 15,728 to 14,933 year-on-year, while the share of such crimes remained the same (41.6%). Inspections conducted by prosecutors revealed under-performance in counteracting recidivism.
The Prosecutor General's Office added that the work to get formerly incarcerated people into jobs was not always effective and efficient. As a result, measures were taken to rectify the situation.
The interaction of law enforcement agencies at the stage of initiating a criminal case has improved, the number of cases when prosecutors place new charges or suspend court proceedings to collect additional evidence has decreased. In addition, the number of complaints filed with the prosecutor's office of violations during operational and search activities and in the course of criminal proceedings has dropped.
