Barry FLETCHER, Spokesperson

UNMIK Police Briefing Notes
20 August, 2002

CRIME IN KOSOVO

I am pleased to be able to report that no murders were recorded in Kosovo during the past week. There have been 41 murders so far this year, which is far below the rate for last year. Police in Kosovo have investigated 47360 criminal incidents of all types so far in 2002 and solved 32631 of them, which is 69%. The crime situation in Kosovo continues to stabilize partly because we are improving our operations. However, a large factor is the increased trust that the people of Kosovo have in our officers - which results in a new willingness by victims to report crimes and by witnesses to provide information.

Unfortunately, there have been over 5500 traffic accidents reported in Kosovo so far this year, with at least 81 deaths and 1178 injuries. Most of the accidents are the result of speeding and reckless driving. We urge everyone to drive more carefully to reduce this ongoing tragedy for Kosovo.

DEMONSTRATIONS

Police monitored two demonstrations yesterday: Approximately 3000 people marched in Podjuevo from 13:00h to 14:00h and about 600 people marched in Glogovac around the same time. Both demonstrations were peaceful and without significant incident. Both were also legal events as the organizers had complied with the requirement to notify police 48 hours in advance.

We anticipate more demonstrations during this week across Kosovo and expect the participants will follow the excellent examples of yesterday's events.

We support the right of the people to demonstrate peacefully, even when they are protesting actions we have taken.

DRIVING LICENSES

UNMIK is currently issuing driving licenses to Kosovo residents who possess an UNMIK ID card and who had a Yugoslav driving license that was issued in Kosovo and expired after 01-01-99. Police will accept the old licenses until 31-12-02, but on January 1st only the new licenses will be valid.
The civil administration expects to begin issuing driving licenses to new applicants in the very near future.

VEHICLE INSURANCE

Reminder: Vehicles in Kosovo are required to have valid insurance that covers injuries & damage caused in accidents. Drivers who are caught without valid insurance will be ticketed with a mandatory court appearance, their vehicle will be towed, and they may lose their li

The information in this report is accurate to the extent of the information known at the time of it's writing. However, further investigations may result in changes to what previously have been reported.

For more information contact the Office of Press and Public Information, UNMIK Police MHQ
Phone 504-604-5071, 3rd floor, office 72