Two years since the horrific crime: "Ribnikar" changed Serbia forever, ten lives were lost PHOTO

On Mali Tašmajdan, at 11 a.m., a workshop called "A virtuous flock in the Garden of Virtues" began, which focuses the community's attention on preserving the memory of the victims and the virtues by which they are remembered.

The workshop is located at the place where 10 Japanese cherries were planted in the name of the murdered and on the board next to it it is written:

"The delicate pink flowers on these trees represent their virtues: nobility, courage, compassion, honesty, justice, cheerfulness, creativity...".

On another board it is written: "This year, students from schools in Belgrade, Lazarevac and Pančevo started the Virtuous Flock. Our intention is that it will also visit other places in Serbia, spreading kindness, beauty and love".

Adults and children have the opportunity until 5 p.m. to paint or write their visions and definitions of the virtues that the victims possessed and continue to inspire.

The organizer of the commemoration is the Multidisciplinary Team for the Establishment of the Memorial Center in memory of the victims of the mass murder at the "Vladislav Ribnikar" Experimental Elementary School in Belgrade, with the support of the Working Group for the Establishment of the Memorial Center.

Last year, the Government of Serbia made a decision on the establishment of a Working Group for the establishment of a Memorial Center in memory of the victims of the mass murder in which Bojana Asović (11), Ana Božović (11), Katarina Martinović (12), Mara Andjelković (13), Ema Kobiljski (13), Sofija Negić (13), Andrija Čikić (14), Adriana Dukić (14), Angelina Aćimović (14) and guard Dragan Vlahović (53) were killed.

Members of the Working Group are representatives of the ministry responsible for education, culture and public investments, the City of Belgrade and the City Municipality of Vračar, the acting director of the "Vladislav Ribnikar" Elementary School, two representatives of the families of the murdered, as well as representatives of the Victim Support Europe organization, the Victimology Society of Serbia and the Institute for Pedagogical Research.

The student who carried out the massacre with two guns was 13 years old at the time and according to domestic law is not criminally responsible, which is why criminal proceedings could not be initiated against him.

Since the massacre, the boy K.K. is in a special hospital for minors, and a criminal and five civil proceedings were initiated against his parents at the time of the lawsuits of the wounded and the families of the murdered.

At the end of last year, the High Court in Belgrade handed down a first-instance verdict to the boy's parents, Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanović, for the crime of abuse and neglect of a minor, by which they were sentenced to a maximum prison sentence of three years.

Vladimir Kecmanović was also convicted of the crime of serious crime against general security, and was sentenced to a single prison sentence of 14 and a half years.

He has been in custody since May 3, 2023, while Miljana Kecmanović has been defending herself pending trial.

In addition to them, Nemanja Marinković, an instructor at the shooting range where the minor, as it is suspected, learned to shoot, was convicted. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the criminal offense of giving false testimony.

The owner of that shooting range, Ratko Ivanović, previously entered into a plea agreement with the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, on the basis of which the court found him guilty of the criminal offense of giving a false statement and sentenced him to six months of house arrest.

It is a first-instance verdict that was appealed by the defenders of the convicted, but also by the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade on the acquittal of Miljana Kecmanović, who was convicted of the criminal offense of illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive substances.

The Court of Appeal should schedule a session to consider those appeals.