A Croatian court imposes a rare 50-year sentence on a former pupil for a fatal school stabbing that shocked the nation.
ZAGREB: A Croatian court has sentenced a 20-year-old man to the maximum 50-year prison term for a fatal school stabbing last year.
The former pupil was convicted of killing a seven-year-old child and wounding a teacher and three other children at a school in a Zagreb suburb.
He entered the school during class time to carry out the attack, according to the indictment.
“This constitutes one count of aggravated murder of a child, along with four counts of attempted aggravated murder,” said Zagreb court spokesperson Kresimir Devcic.
The court panel concluded that only the harshest sentence could achieve the necessary prevention.
Devcic confirmed the perpetrator was tried as an adult following a psychiatric assessment.
The unprecedented attack deeply shocked the country and prompted protests calling for safer schools.
The convicted man was arrested immediately after the attack and has remained in custody since.
The maximum 50-year sentence is rarely handed down by Croatian courts, and the ruling can be appealed.
