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Young delinquents most often end up in Shutka.
Alarming numbers of juvenile delinquency Katerina Geteva

16.11.2008 16:40
The number of criminal deeds on behalf of the young is alarming; even more, they are brutal and terrifying.

Last year Marko, together with five more boys vandalized a monument in Strumica.

They stole brass letters. Marko was guarding, while his adult friends in the business were stealing. Marko is in the juvenile prison in Shutka for already 10 months. He shares the cell with is peers, but also with younger children charged for bigger criminal deeds, drugs, fights, even murder.

The statistics from MVR shows that in the last five months 1690 cases involving juvenile criminals have been solved, while 2863 persons have been prosecuted. The fact that 2732 juvenile criminals have repeated the criminal deed is alarming.

Why did these juvenile criminals get back to criminal after getting out of prison?

“There is no refugee center in the Center for social work, that would work with them; also there is not program for resocialization of these children while they are in the house for correction. The children are in the punishment jail in Shutka and they perceive it as repressive educational punishment and they are accommodated together with the older offenders that have conducted more serious crimes.” stated Dragi Zmijanac, Megashi

Fierce critics for the facilities where  the juvenile delinquents should be socialized come from UNICEF and Megashi almost every year.

Organizations that present the rights of the children say that the juvenile prison instead of institutions for socialization, give opportunities for learning criminal skills from the older, and when they go out of prison they became members of large criminal bands.

Translated by : Biljana Stefanovska