7,000 children are deep in crime: One in five is less than 14 years old

The number of juveniles in Serbia who have come into conflict with the law in the last five years is measured in thousands. Nearly 10,000 of them, according to data from the Statistical Office, have received educational measures or juvenile imprisonment.

Another alarming fact is that as many as 40 ended up behind bars because of aggravated acts, ten of which last year.

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According to the data of the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office, (RJT) last year the police registered more than 7,000 offenders under the age of 18, 19 percent of whom were not even 14 years old and are therefore not criminally responsible.

As many as 1,416 teenagers received educational measures, 172 of them have been sent to institutions.

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The number of aggravated murders committed by youths is also on the rise, with a fifth more thefts, robberies and property crimes than the year before.

For this reason, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic announced that the Ministry of the Interior would propose to the Ministry of Justice to tighten the criminal policy or find another solution, modeled after the EU.

"The analysis of the results of the work of police departments shows an increase in the number of crimes committed by the youngest perpetrators, sometimes even children under the age of 14, who cannot be held criminally responsible by law," said Stefanovic, pointing out that in practice children who commit crimes for which they can't be held responsible, and minors over 14 years of age to whom mild criminal policies are applied, immediately proceed to carry out the next act.

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(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)