Belgrade courts sentenced Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović, the parents of a 13‑year‑old boy who fired 66 shots inside Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in May 2023, killing nine children and a guard. The boy’s mother received a two‑year, eleven‑month term for neglect, while the father was sentenced to 14 years and six months for negligence and for failing to secure firearms.
The original trial in 2024 concluded with mixed outcomes: the father was jailed for training his son with guns and for unsafe storage of firearms; the mother was cleared of illegal possession but convicted of neglect. The court of appeal ordered a retrial in November 2025, stating the earlier verdicts were unclear and contradictory.
In the retrial, prosecutors argued the parents’ conduct contributed to the tragedy and that the boy’s actions were foreseeable. Defence counsel countered that the charges lacked proven evidence of neglect and that no expert testimony had been presented to link the parents’ behavior to the shooting.
Despite the rare occurrence of gun attacks in Serbia, the 2023 incident spurred mass protests and led the government to enact a gun amnesty and enact stricter gun‑control laws. Subsequent crimes, such as a drive‑by killing outside Belgrade two days later, further intensified public scrutiny over gun safety.
Both defence and prosecution have lodged appeals against the jail terms, indicating the case will continue through the court of appeal. Legal experts see the proceedings as a critical test of Serbian society’s response to one of the nation’s most tragic peacetime events.
