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(Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The crime level want down by more than 15 percent in the first three months of 2015 compared to last year, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

The share of crimes that were solved improved to more than 52 percent.

According to the new report, which was published by MIA on Monday, out of 8,970 crimes registered in January-March, 4,697 were solved.

Crime went down by 15.24 percent compared to the same period last year.

Official statistics have shown the crime going down since the change of government in October, 2012. But the figures are regularly contested by the National Movement. The former ruling party often claims that the government is publishing invalid statistics and that the real crime level has increased in Georgia in recent years.

According to an opinion poll carried out by International Republican Institute (IRI) in February, 60 percent of people think that the criminal situation in the country has worsened.

Deputy Interior Minister Levav Izoria said on Monday that the new government has employed a new methodology for how to register crimes electronically. Earlier, this was done on paper and there was ‘a possibility of manipulating the data.’

Izoria said that EU recommended establishing this new methodology.

Shota Utiashvili, who used to be MIA’s press spokesperson and head of the Department for Analysis during the National Movement, told DF Watch that reports published by the MIA makes it obvious that they are ‘falsified.’

“Now they claim that crime is reduced. If you compare numbers which they published there is no reduction in severe crime. Murders, robberies, kidnapping have increased,” he said adding that it just createws more suspicion that the data is fake.

“It is not possible that severe crime was increasing and minor crimes decreasing.”

Data was collected from cases investigated by MIA, Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Justice, Defense Ministry, Prison and Finance Ministries.