A Serbian court on Thursday sentenced Uros Blazic, 21, to 20 years in prison for a mass shooting that killed eight people and injured 12 near Mladenovac in May 2023. The incident, which unfolded across three locations, marked one of two devastating mass shootings that shocked the nation last year.
Blazic, who admitted to the killings, carried out the attack less than 24 hours after a teenager fatally shot nine students and a guard in a Belgrade elementary school. These back-to-back tragedies triggered the largest anti-government protests Serbia has seen in years, eventually leading to a snap election in late 2023.
The court in Smederevo convicted Blazic of murder, illegal weapons possession, and other charges. While Serbia’s maximum sentence is 40 years, the court applied the legal limit of 20 years for Blazic due to his age at the time of the crime. The verdict is subject to appeal.
Sasa Panic, who lost two of his children, 18-year-old Kristina and 22-year-old Milan, expressed his dissatisfaction with the sentence. “There is no appropriate punishment for what he did. Even the death penalty would be too mild,” Panic told RTS state TV.
The attacks have left an indelible mark on Serbia, sparking widespread calls for stricter gun control and justice reforms in the Balkan nation.
Melissa Enoch
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