Lifetime sentence for "The Barber of Malča"

He was indicted for the kidnapping and abuse of a minor girl from Brzi Brod. The first-instance verdict was publicly announced in the High Court shortly after 11 a.m., in the presence of the family of the injured minor as well as numerous journalists.
This is the most severe possible punishment, and this is the first time that a court in Serbia has imposed a life sentence, since this sanction was introduced into our legal system and began to be applied on December 1, 2019.
He has not attended the announcement of the verdict, that is, he was not brought to the court from custody in which he has been staying for exactly one year, since his arrest on January 5, 2020. In addition to numerous news crews, the verdict in the courtroom was attended by the parents of Jovanovi\'s victim. This is a first instance verdict to which the defense has the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals in Nis.
The court also extended Jovanovic's detention today.
Although the entire criminal proceedings, including the trial, were closed to the public for the protection of the interests of the minor victim, the verdict was made public.
The crimes for which Jovanovic is charged, as well as the details of the trial, remained unknown due to the exclusion of the public. Jovanovic is a multiple returnee, who has spent more than 20 years in prison and is now in custody. He abducted the girl from the village of Suvi Do on December 20, 2019, and abused her for ten days, after which she was found, and he was arrested seven days later.
The higher public prosecutor\'s office in Nis filed an indictment against Jovanovic in March last year, but due to the protection of the interests of the minor, they did not want to announce the legal qualification of the criminal...