Sarajevo, 5 February 2010. - “Corruption takes everything from you” is the single most important message that the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) law enforcement agencies have been conveying to the citizens within the joint anti-corruption public awareness campaign, implemented in the past two months. Judging by the results, the citizens listened closely.

Aiming to raise awareness about corruption and its corrosive impact on the society, the campaign has seen police officers across the country educating the public on the mechanisms individuals can use to help curb corruption. The educational and informational activities placed a special emphasis on low-level corruption, which is present in everyday life and affects citizens personally. The campaign addressed the issue of the "habit" of giving gifts – which have in recent years turned into envelopes with substantial amounts of cash – to doctors, clerks and other public servants for the services they are supposed to provide as part of their jobs and the services already paid for with taxpayers' money. It invited citizens to actively participate in changing this practice and reporting instances of corruption to the anonymous crime hotline Krimolovci (Crime Stoppers), manned by the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), BiH's FBI.

With the extensive, country-wide outreach through the media and a number of activities organized in local communities, the campaign yielded concrete, measurable results. The overall number of calls to the Krimolovci hotline increased by 200 percent, the number of useful information recieved increased by 300 percent, but, most importantly, the number of reports relating to corruption cases is today seven times higher than in the period before the campaign.

“The number of phone calls and the amount of useful information we received is a clear sign that our message has reached the citizens,” says Mirko Lujić, SIPA Director. “It is a clear message to the offenders and criminals that they cannot be complacent, as the citizens are gaining more and more trust in the police. We are determined to make Bosnia and Herzegovina a safe country.” 

 “Corruption Takes Everything From You” is the sixth public information campaign jointly organized and implemented by the EUPM and law enforcement agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has set a platform for the multi-agency approach to battling corruption, with the involvement of all segments of the society. Thus, although the campaign concluded at the end of January 2010, the joint fight against corruption continues.