The parents of the murdered, as well as the lawyers of the injured, believe that the 20 years in prison, to which Uroš Blažić was sentenced, is an inadequate punishment for such a terrible crime.
Blažić was sentenced in the first instance to 20 years in prison for the mass murder near Mladenovac, in the villages of Malo Orašje and Dubona on May 4 last year, the High Court based in Smederevo decided, but the Judicial Council read the verdict in the Belgrade Special Court.
Blažić was sentenced to the maximum possible sentence for minors, because at the time of the crime, when he killed nine young people and wounded 12, he was not yet 21 years old.
Blažić, who was 20 years old when he committed the crime, admitted that he shot several people in three different locations.
The verdict and sentence are not final, and he has the right to appeal.
His father, Radiša Blažić, a retired colonel, was sentenced to 20 years for illegal possession of a weapon, which was used to commit the crime.
Saša Panić, the father of the two murdered people, Kristina (18) and Milan (22), said that for Uroš Blažić and his father Radiša, death sentences would be lenient for what they did. He emphasized that the whole truth must be established, how Radiša Blažić, a retired army colonel, acquired a large amount of weapons, when there is a procedure to get to them.
The representative of the injured, lawyer Nebojša Perović, called on the authorities to change the criminal legislation as soon as possible, because by limiting the prison sentence to 20 years for minors, "primitive murderers" are created.
"So, at the age of twenty, you can start a family, get a job, but you can't answer properly, so they say to such people: You're still young", said Perović, stating that this kind of punishment for Uroš Blažić is "in a way a reward". .
The representative of the injured, lawyer Stefan Stefanović, said that the families of the murdered cannot be completely satisfied with the amount of the sentences.
He also asked if it was necessary for such a terrible crime to happen and for the authorities to punish Uroš and Radiša Blažić for the first time, when there was an opportunity to do so because of their previous behavior.
The Chairperson of the Judicial Council, Lidija Jovanovski, while pronouncing the verdict, said that Uroš Blažić committed the crime in a state of calculation, aware of his act in reckless violent behavior, that he fired in bursts with the intention of killing without reason.
Some of the wounded, she said, begged him not to kill them or called for help, but he approached them and continued to shoot. She read in detail the numerous injuries he inflicted on the victims.
Jovanovski stated that the sentence of 20 years for Uroš Blažić is not fair and adequate, but it is the only possible one.
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