Wounded Ribnikar Student Sues Kecmanovic Family in Court

The Higher Court in Belgrade today, September 3, 2026, opens a preliminary hearing in the sixth civil lawsuit against Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanovic. For the first time, the suit against the parents of the boy who carried out the attack at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School on May 3, 2023, was filed by a girl who was wounded in that attack.

The lawsuit was filed on May 6, 2026. The defendants are Vladimir Kecmanovic, Miljana Kecmanovic, and the Vladislav Ribnikar school itself. The underage plaintiff is seeking compensation for non-material damage: for mental anguish over the reduction of her general life activity, for the physical pain she suffered, and for the fear and pain caused by disfigurement.

The attack in which the girl was wounded took place on May 3, 2023, when a seventh-grade student killed ten people and wounded six others. The case triggered a series of criminal and civil proceedings against the boy’s parents, who in those proceedings are accused of neglecting their duty to supervise their child and to safely store weapons in the household.

Five earlier cases and over 411 million dinars

The proceeding opening today is the sixth of its kind, and the Higher Court in Belgrade has already issued first-instance rulings in the previous five lawsuits against the Kecmanovic family and the school.

The first lawsuit was filed by 27 relatives of those killed in the attack. The second was filed by members of the Dukic family, whose daughter was killed, who sued the state in addition to the parents and the school. The third and fourth suits were brought by wounded boys, through their parents acting as legal guardians. The fifth lawsuit was filed by a history teacher who was also wounded in the attack.

In all five first-instance proceedings concluded so far, the court has ordered the Kecmanovic family and the school to pay the victims a combined total of more than 411 million dinars. The final word on those amounts rests with the Court of Appeals, which is still ruling on appeals in those cases.

Criminal sentences for both parents

Alongside the civil proceedings, Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanovic also faced criminal prosecution. Vladimir Kecmanovic was sentenced to 14 years and six months in prison for neglect and abuse of a minor, as well as for serious offenses against public safety. Miljana Kecmanovic was sentenced to two years and 11 months in prison for neglect and abuse of a minor.

In the civil proceedings, the parents are accused of allowing their son, then 13 years old, access to his father’s weapons. The school, in addition, is accused of failing to take sufficient measures to prevent weapons from being brought into the building that morning.

The sixth lawsuit, whose preliminary hearing opens today, is the first in which the plaintiff is represented by someone who was physically injured in the attack, rather than someone who lost a family member.

A preliminary hearing is the first stage of a civil proceeding, in which the court and the parties establish the disputed facts and evidentiary motions before the main trial begins. The outcome of today’s hearing, as well as the size of any compensation the girl might eventually receive, will depend on how the case proceeds before the Higher Court in Belgrade.

The Kecmanovic family thus continues to answer on two fronts at once, criminal and civil. While the Court of Appeals rules on appeals against the compensation already awarded in the first five cases, a sixth is now opening before the first-instance court, with a new plaintiff and the same defendants. The number of victims who have formally sought compensation from the Kecmanovic family and the school now rises to six separate proceedings, three years and four months after the attack at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School marked Belgrade.