Filip Zeljkovic: Accomplice Sentence Cut to 6.5 Years

The verdict in the murder of water polo player Filip Zeljkovic at a gas station in Subotica is now final. Predrag M. keeps his 20-year prison sentence, while the second-instance court reduced accomplice Ivan C.’s sentence from 10 years to six years and six months. The Higher Court in Subotica confirmed the ruling for Tanjug on September 10, 2026.

What the Court Decided

Predrag M. (36) was finally convicted of murder, of illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials, and of forging a document. Alongside the 20-year prison sentence, he was also fined 100,000 dinars.

Ivan C. (26) was convicted of aiding murder and forging a document. The first-instance court had originally sentenced him to 10 years in prison, but the Court of Appeals in Novi Sad revised that sentence to six years for murder and eight months for forgery, six years and six months in total. Time already spent in pretrial detention since November 30, 2023, counts toward his sentence.

The proceedings against the two defendants did not move at the same pace. Predrag M.’s appeal was dismissed as unfounded, so the first-instance verdict against him became final back on May 7, 2025. Ivan C.’s appeal, by contrast, was upheld at that point: the first-instance verdict against him was overturned and the case sent back for retrial. The main hearing in the renewed proceedings began on September 10, 2025, during which the defense also sought the recusal of the presiding judge. The ruling that reduced Ivan C.’s sentence was issued on June 30, 2026, finally closing the case against him as well.

How the Murder Was Carried Out

Filip Zeljkovic (21) was killed on October 15, 2023, on Segedinski Put in Subotica, near a gas station. He was driving with his younger brother in a BMW, which the attackers caught up to while it was stopped at a red light.

According to the indictment, Ivan C. was sitting in the front passenger seat of a Skoda Fabia driven by Predrag M. As agreed with the driver, he left the window on his side of the car open and leaned back, so that Predrag M. would have room to extend his arm holding a pistol. When the Skoda pulled level with the BMW, Predrag M. fired a 9x19 mm pistol through the open passenger window at Filip Zeljkovic, hitting him in the head. The young man died at the scene.

Arrest in Sombor

The defendants fled the scene after the shooting, abandoned the car, and called friends to pick them up. They were arrested in late November 2023, about a month and a half later, in a rented apartment in Sombor.

At the time of the arrest, police found forged Croatian identity documents on them, one in the name of Nesladek Dominik bearing Predrag M.’s photo, the other in the name of Petek Sven bearing Ivan C.’s photo. A pistol of the same caliber, 9x19 mm, was also found in the apartment, along with two magazines holding 19 rounds.

Sources differ on how long the defendants evaded arrest. The B92 agency reports they were on the run for about twenty days, while Kurir and Informer note they were arrested in late November 2023, a month and a half after the murder committed on October 15. The Higher Court in Subotica told Tanjug only that the arrest took place in Sombor, without specifying the exact number of days they had been on the run.

The case is now closed almost three years after the murder. In the meantime, the court proceedings went through two rounds, a first-instance verdict, an appeals process with different outcomes for the two defendants, and, for Ivan C., a retrial before the Higher Court in Subotica.