Aldina Lakota Sentenced to Life Again in Novi Pazar

The Higher Court in Novi Pazar has for the second time sentenced Aldina Lakota, from the village of Dubnica near Sjenica, to life in prison. The verdict was handed down on August 26, 2026, in a retrial over the killing of her mother-in-law, Bajra Lakota.

This is the second first instance verdict in the same case. The first life sentence, handed down earlier in the same proceedings, was overturned by the Appellate Court in Kragujevac, which ordered a new trial. An appeal against the second first instance verdict is still allowed, but the Appellate Court no longer has the power to overturn it again. It can only uphold the verdict, change it, or open the main hearing itself.

Aldina Lakota has thereby become the first person in Serbia to be sentenced to life in prison twice, in two separate trials, for the same crime. She remains the only woman ever handed that sentence since it was introduced into the domestic criminal code in 2019.

What happened in Dubnica

The killing took place on May 28, 2024, in the village of Dubnica near Sjenica. According to the indictment filed by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Pazar, Aldina Lakota attacked her mother-in-law, Bajra Lakota, with a knife and killed her on the spot.

The prosecution says the killing was carried out in a brutal and treacherous manner, with two knives. The court accepted that classification in both verdicts. Sources differ on the exact number of stab wounds: Kurir and Srpskainfo report more than 120 wounds, while Republika, citing the presiding judge’s explanation from the hearing, reports an exact figure of 121 wounds. All sources agree that around 50 of the wounds were to the head and neck.

According to the prosecution, before the attack Aldina Lakota sent her minor daughter to her mother-in-law’s house to check whether the woman was alone at the time. The girl was not charged in the investigation or the trial and is not named.

After the killing, the indictment states, she walked from Dubnica to Sjenica. From there she tried to reach Uzice by taking two taxis through Zlatibor. Police arrested her the very next day.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Pazar filed the indictment against Aldina Lakota in October 2024, a little more than four months after the killing. The first trial, which also ended in a life sentence, was held before the Appellate Court in Kragujevac overturned that verdict and returned the case to the Higher Court in Novi Pazar for a retrial.

Defense and motive

During the proceedings, Aldina Lakota denied guilt and placed the blame on her romantic partner.

I did not kill Bajra. I was on good terms with her.

She said this before the Higher Court in Novi Pazar, while presenting her own defense.

The prosecution linked the motive to the collapse of her marriage. According to the charges, Aldina blamed her mother-in-law for her divorce from her husband.

A forensic psychiatrist also testified about the defendant’s mental state. Dr. Slobodan Simic earlier in the proceedings assessed that the killing bore the hallmarks of an emotional, impulsive act.

This looks like one of those uncontrollable, impulsive killings.

The expert witness said this, describing the perpetrator’s loss of impulse control at a moment of intense emotional strain.

Sentencing and what comes next

The Higher Public Prosecutor again sought the harshest possible sentence in the retrial. The court accepted that request, just as it had in the first round of the trial.

An appeal to the Appellate Court in Kragujevac is allowed against the verdict. Unlike the first verdict, which that court could only overturn and send back for a retrial, this time it has three possible outcomes: it can uphold the verdict, change it, or open the main hearing itself.

No source has yet published a timeline for when the appeal proceedings might conclude.