Bild: Saxony fears crime rise over Czech amnesty

Berlin, Jan 7 (CTK) - Inhabitants of German Saxony fear a crime rise in border areas over the release of prisoners in the neighbouring Czech Republic within the presidential amnesty these days, the Bild German daily reports Monday.

Saxony Interior Minister Markus Ulbig has expressed similar fears, Bild says.

According to local inhabitants, mainly Czechs and Poles are behind the rising crime in border areas.

"I am very critical of the release of petty criminals since its consequences for our inhabitants cannot be estimated," Bild cites Ulbig as saying.

Bild adds that the partial amnesty declared by Czech President Vaclav Klaus on New Year applies also to the perpetrators of thefts and burglaries in the Saxon border areas.

To support its statements, Bild recalls that some prisoners released within the Czech amnesty violated laws several hours after they left prison and they ended up in custody.

Saxony has faced a rise in the cross-border crime since the EU newcomers, including the Czech Republic and Poland, joined the Schengen area five years ago when border checks were abolished, the paper writes.

Saxon areas bordering on the Czech Republic and Poland mainly suffer from an increasing number of car and metal thefts.

Some local inhabitants would therefore like to resume border checks, install barriers on border tourist paths and reinforce police patrols in the region. They expect these measures to discourage potential thieves and prevent them from quickly escaping with the loot abroad.

The Saxony authorities, on the contrary, want to strengthen cooperation with the Czech and Polish police to fight the crime.

The Czech presidential amnesty, declared as of January 2 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Czech Republic, applies to convicts with low suspended or prison sentences, elderly convicts and also suspects whose criminal proceedings have lasted for more than eight years. The prosecution is halted if the maximum prison sentence that can be imposed in such cases does not exceed ten years.

The amnesty has been sharply criticised mainly because it halts the prosecution in some closely watched cases of financial crime and corruption.