During his January 1 public address to the nation, Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda took the opportunity to spell out the government’s stance against crime for the year to come.
“The year 1999 will be the year of an uncompromising fight against criminals, blackmailers and the underworld,” he said. “The mafia is like a cancer – it is an insidious disease and we have to fight it. We have to act fast.”
Statistics show that the government’s 1999 goals were not met. According to the Slovak Police Presidium in Bratislava, 12,526 violent crimes were reported during the first 11 months of the year, up from 11,515 during the same period in 1998. Murders, robberies and rapes also recorded increases in 1999. pokračuj v čítaní…