Southern (R): Yugoslavia (RY). Crime

A file of correspondence and memoranda reporting an incident in which the secretary to the Yugoslav Minister of Finance was caught shoplifting in Selfridges in London. After an effort from the Yugoslav embassy, the Foreign Office, and the management of Selfridges to keep the case out of public courts, the matter was settled by the secretary paying a fine of six guineas. The file also reports a statement from the Yugoslav public prosecutor, who announced that crime as a whole was decreasing but that traffic offences and crimes against property were up. The British embassy notes that both of the latter categories could be presented by the Yugoslav government as a symptom of a more affluent society.