High Court in Belgrade will announce the verdict on Monday Vladimir i Miljana Kecmanovic, to the parents of a thirteen-year-old boy who died on May 3, 2023 Elementary School "Vladislav Ribnikar" shooting dead nine students and security workers of that school and wounded five more students and a history teacher.
The court will pronounce the first-instance verdict, which both the defense and the prosecution will be able to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
The trial of Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović was closed to the public from the very beginning. However, Serbian law stipulates that the pronouncement of judgments must be made public.
"The end of the trial for the murders in Ribnikar is an opportunity for all of us to once again express solidarity and empathy with all the victims and their families, with the friends and comrades of the victims. It is another opportunity to demand fair punishments, to call on the institutions and the government, to find ways to prevent such tragedies from happening," wrote journalist Veran Matić in a text published on the Javni servis portal.
"That's why it's important to express that solidarity and empathy in front of the Palace of Justice, on Monday, December 30 at 12.30:XNUMX p.m.," Matić added.
Minor KK (13), who shot on May 3, was not yet 14 years old at the time of the crime, and cannot be held criminally responsible by law. After he was questioned, Kecmanović's lawyer confirmed to the media that KK received the status of injured party, and that the indictment against his parents expanded and the criminal offense of neglect and abuse of a minor.
The prosecutor is seeking maximum penalties
As "Vreme" already wrote, the chief public prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, asked the court to convict Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović to the maximum legal penalties.
Delivering his closing speech at the trial before the High Court in Belgrade, Stefanović proposed for Vladimir Kecmanović 12 years in prison for a serious offense against general security and three years in prison for the criminal offense of neglecting and abusing a minor, i.e. a single sentence of a total of 14 years and 11 months in prison .
For Miljana Kecmanović, he proposed two and a half years in prison and a fine of 500.000 dinars for the criminal offense of illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive substances and three years in prison for neglecting the abuse of a minor, i.e. a single sentence of five years and five months prison, writes RTS.
Take away Kecmanović's weapons
Shooting instructor Nemanja Marinković is also on trial in this proceeding, for whom Stefanović proposed a maximum sentence of three years in prison for the criminal offense of giving a false statement.
In addition, he also requested that the court extend Kecmanović's detention, with the explanation that he could repeat the crime if he was free and that this would disturb the public.
He also demanded that all firearms in his possession be confiscated.
For Miljana Kecmanović, the chief prosecutor proposed an extension restraining orders, meeting or communicating with her son who committed a mass murder, because the circumstances for which this measure was determined and extended have not lost their significance.
The case was sensationalized
Although the trial was closed to the public from the very beginning, the entire process was marked by the leaking of statements from the courtroom, which the tabloids broadcast in a highly sensational manner. The entire coverage of the murders in Ribnikar was marked by numerous violations of the Code of Journalists of Serbia.
Thousands of articles were published in the first few days after the murder. They were characterized by sensationalism, disclosure of traumatic details, speculation about motives, invasion of privacy of victims and their families, publication of unverified or unverifiable information and focus on the perpetrator.
Two families of the victims sued the tabloids, but the disputes are still ongoing, writes BIRN.
