BELGRADE -- The trial has begun in a Belgrade court for the father and mother of a 13-year-old accused of opening fire and killing 10 people in a Serbian school last May, a tragedy that led to mass street protests against the culture of violence in the country.
The father, identified as V.K., is charged with a serious crime against general security, suspected of having trained the child on how to handle weapons, as well as failing to provide conditions for guarding firearms, prosecutors said on January 29.
The mother, M.K., is charged with illicit production, possession, and trade of weapons.
Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year sentence for the father and 2 ½ years for the mother.
The child, identified as K.K., is not being prosecuted because of his young age at the time of the shooting.
The indictment also includes charges against the owner and instructor of the shooting club where persecutors allege the father took his underage son to practice shooting on moving targets.
Prosecutors are seeking three years each for the owner and instructor on charges of giving false statements during the investigation.
The trial is closed to the public.
The parents of Ema Kobiljski, 13, mourn during the funeral procession at the central cemetery in Belgrade on May 6, 2023. She was one of eight students and a guard shot by schoolmate K.K.
The shooting, and another similar one a day later that took nine lives, shook Serbian society and set off street protests against President Aleksandar Vucic and his government, leading to the formation of an opposition political group labeled Serbia Against Violence.
A 21-year-old suspect has been charged with murder in the second killing, which injured at least 14 people in across three Serbian villages.
After the shootings, the government of Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party responded with a series of measures -- from disarming the population to forming a Council for Combating Bullying.
However, the opposition declared during mass street protests that the government actions were not sufficient and have called on leaders to resign.
Vucic denied that the government was not doing enough to stem violence and blamed foreign actors for the protests.