Mehmed Vukalić was sentenced today to 42 years in prison for a brutal triple murder committed in Sanski Most in the summer of 2024. The verdict was handed down by the Cantonal Court in Bihać, and it is a first-instance decision that the convicted person has the right to appeal.
The crime that shook Bosnia and Herzegovina took place in August 2024, on the premises of the Gymnasium in Sanski Most, where Vukalić cold-bloodedly murdered three people: Nijaz Halilović, the director of the institution, Nisveta Kljunić, the school secretary, and Gordana Midžan, an English teacher.
According to the case files, Vukalić entered the school armed with a Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle, which he illegally possessed. After shooting three school employees, he attempted to commit suicide in one of the offices by shooting himself in the chest.
Quick intervention by doctors saved his life
Although he sustained serious injuries after the crime, Vukalić survived thanks to the quick response of the medical team at the Clinical Center in Banja Luka, where he was urgently transferred and operated on. After recovering, he was transferred to detention, where he awaited the start of the court proceedings.
The Una-Sana Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Vukalić, which was confirmed in November last year. The indictment charges him with aggravated murder, as well as unauthorized possession of a weapon – an automatic rifle with which he committed a triple murder.
During the trial, the USK Prosecutor’s Office presented details of the course of events and requested a long-term prison sentence, stating that this was one of the most serious crimes committed in the canton in recent decades.
Expressed remorse, but the verdict is the harshest in the canton’s practice
At the main hearing, Vukalić admitted to the crime and expressed remorse, stating that he could not justify what he had done. However, the trial panel assessed that the gravity and brutality of the act required an extremely harsh sentence.
The sentence of 42 years in prison is among the harshest that the Cantonal Court in Bihać has handed down in recent years.
The verdict is a first-instance verdict, which means that the defense has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH. The proceedings can thus continue in a second-instance decision-making process.
