Convictions for drug-related crimes in Bulgaria increased by close to 20% in 2016 – official statistics
The number of punished drug-related crimes in Bulgaria in 2016 added up to 2079, close to 20 per cent more than in 2015, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in an annual report released on July 14.
A total of 1906 people were convicted for this type of crime, the NSI said.
In 2016, the largest number of crimes for which convictions were handed down were what are termed “crimes of general danger”, a category that includes crimes against transport and communications, motor vehicle theft and drug-related crimes.
In all, 11 737 people were convicted of this type of crime, making up close to 42 per cent of all people convicted. The number was just more than 16 per cent higher than in 2015.
In second place among convictions were crimes against property, defined as including theft and robbery, misappropriation, fraud, extortion, receiving stolen goods, damage to and destruction of property.
A total of 7431 people were convicted of this type of crime, including 668 convicted for robbery and 686 for fraud.
In the third category, crimes against state bodies, the largest number of convictions was for illegal crossing of the state border. A total of 1771 people were convicted for this, while 193 were convicted for illegally transporting people across the state border, the NSI said.
A total of 2410 people were convicted for crimes against the economy, such as crimes against creditors and against the monetary and credit system.
In 2016, a total of 1464 people were convicted for crimes against the person. The largest number of convictions, of 739 people, were for bodily harm.
In this category, 101 people were found guilty of actual or attempted murder, 61 for rape, and 31 for people-trafficking.
Of the number of people found guilty, more than 91 per cent were male, and in turn, more than a quarter were men between the ages of 30 and 39.
More than 81 per cent of those convicted in 2016 were given jail terms of various lengths. Just more than half of these sentences were for up to six months, while just 0.1 per cent were for 15 to 20 years. No one was handed a jail sentence in the 20 to 30 years bracket in 2016, the NSI said.
Six people were sentenced to life imprisonment and one person to life imprisonment without parole.
A total of 4172 were sentenced to probation and 954 were fined, the NSI said.
In all, a total of 28 301 people were found guilty by Bulgaria’s courts in 2016.
Of this total, 1464 were for crimes against the person, 785 for crimes against the marriage, family and youth, 7431 for crimes against property, 2410 for crimes against the economy, 121 for crimes against the financial, tax and insurance systems, 2689 for crimes against state bodies, 868 for document crimes, 561 for crimes against order and public peace, and 11 737 in the category “generally dangerous crimes”.
(Photo: Miguel Saavedra/sxc.hu)
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