Sarajevo, 12 February 2010. - State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) officers successfully solved a human trafficking case thanks to a phone call by a conscientious citizen to the Krimolovci hotline. SIPA officials received 987 calls in January, twice the number of calls recorded in November 2009 – a month which saw 482 calls.

“Thanks to the single phone call, SIPA officers managed to efficiently solve the criminal act of human trafficking with the aim of sexual exploitation. This case, alongside almost all of the other 1000 calls received via the Krimolovci hotline, demonstrate the quality of trust which is being established between the citizens and the police. Furthermore, it is a message to all criminals that somebody is always watching them,” stated SIPA Director Mirko Lujić.

The increased number of calls is a result of the jointly implemented EU Police Mission-BiH law enforcement agencies public information campaign “Corruption takes everything from you”. A significant indicator of the campaign’s success is that from the end of December 2009 to the end of January 2010, 110 calls to the Krimolovci hotline reported potential or enacted criminal activity which proved useful to SIPA officers in investigations.

Of the calls reporting the criminal activity, the most reported instances of crime were cases of corruption and abuse of position, illegal possession of firearms and explosive materials and illegal production and trafficking of narcotics. Reports were forwarded to competent police bodies for further processing for 102 of the 110 calls received in January 2010, while the other eight calls were related to crimes falling under SIPA’s competencies.

Head of EU Police Mission, Commissioner Stefan Feller, welcomed the increased number of calls to the Krimolovci hotline: “Judging by the number of calls received in the last two months, one can conclude that our messages from the “Corruption takes everything from you” campaign did reach out to the citizens. We encourage citizens to continue sharing info with the police”.