In media
The trial for the tragedy in the night club in Nis has started: One young man was killed, another was seriously injured
The murdered Stefanović worked as a security guard at the University Clinical Center and everyone knew him as a good young man and a responsible worker.
According to the statements of the defendants, Filip Petrović (31), Andrija Mitrović (20) and Milan Cvetković (40), today is the first hearing in the trial for the murder of Stefan Stefanović (26) from Pukovac near Doljevac in the High Court in Niš.
On August 13 last year, Stefanović was killed in a night club on 7. jula street in Niš, while Milan Cvetković was seriously wounded.
According to the indictment, the late Stefan and his friends Andrija and Milan attacked and beat Filip in the restroom of the night club, and when they returned to the cafe and stood at the bar again, he came up to them and pulled out a knife. Stefan died on the spot from a stab wound in the chest area, while Milan suffered a stab wound in the liver area and was operated on.
The higher public prosecution charges Petrović with aggravated murder committed under the influence of cocaine and alcohol, and in a state of significantly reduced sanity, while Andrija and Milan are accused of violent behavior because, immediately before the fatal event, they participated in a fight in which Petrović was beaten.
At today’s hearing, Petrović expressed regret and said that he had no intention of killing anyone in the club.
“I’m sorry. Better if it happened to me than to these people. None of what happened should have happened. “I didn’t know any of them, I was never in conflict with him,” Petrović pointed out.
The defendant stated that he had seen the three guys who attacked him in the nightclub toilet occasionally in the city, since they went out to the same clubs, but that he did not know their names.
“Two girls asked me where the toilet was and I went ahead of them to get there.” I was attacked by three people in the toilet. I don’t know who hit me first, but the blows blurred my vision, my head and whole body hurt, and I couldn’t get my bearings. The knife was in my pocket because when I went out into the city I put on the pants it was in. I occasionally carried a knife with me since some guy, when I was returning from basketball in the evening in 2020, was intercepted for no reason and pulled out a knife on me,” said Petrović.
At the request of the senior public prosecutor to explain what the knife looked like and how long the blade was, given that the knife was never found, Petrović said that he did not remember and could not say how long the blade was, because he had never seen it before. used.
Milan Cvetković, who was seriously wounded in the club on the fateful night, also confirmed that his friends did not know Petrović personally, and that he did not even know him by sight.
“The three of us were standing by the counter and someone knocked over a glass and the drink with ice spilled over my neck and back. I went to the toilet to wipe myself, and Stefan followed me, while I didn’t see Andrija at that moment. Philip was standing in front of the entrance to the men’s toilet, turned around and started insulting us, lashing out and flailing his arms. He cursed us, he cursed our “peasant mother”. I grabbed his hand and pushed him to enter the toilet, and at that moment Stefan and Andrija intervened and hit him. I was separating them, there was no reason to fight and I didn’t want the police to arrest us for that. “I didn’t give a single blow to Stefan,” said Cvetković.
He said that after the fight, Filip remained on his feet and was not bloody, so he believes that he did not receive serious blows, otherwise he would have fallen to the floor.
“When we went up from the toilet to the club after the fight, we didn’t immediately go home, because we had to pay for the drinks we drank that evening, and also to pick up our phones and car keys.” I didn’t notice when Philip approached us and I didn’t see the knife. I felt the sting myself. From the fight to that, only a few minutes passed, maybe three, four,” emphasized Cvetković.
Andrija Mitrović confirmed at the hearing that he hit Petrović with his hands and knees several times in the club.
“I didn’t see when Philip went down to the toilet with the girls, but when I saw that Stefan and Milan went down, I went down too.” Filip was saying bad things to us, cursing at our “peasant mother”, so Stefan and I attacked him. Stefan hit him first, then me. I don’t know how many times I hit him, but I must have hit him more than once. There was a girl in the toilet cheering us on and saying “well done” for beating Philip. I was scared because of the fight and after leaving the toilet I went to the park across the street from the club. I was there for a while and then I was one of the guests of the club, and there were many of them, who heard that a tragedy had happened and that both of my friends were injured. I called a taxi and went to the hospital. That’s where I heard that Stefan passed away,” Mitrović said.
The murdered Stefanović worked as a security guard at the University Clinical Center and everyone knew him as a good young man and a responsible soldier.
The next hearing in the court case against Petrović, Mitrović and Cvetković (40) is scheduled for July 6. Today’s hearing was attended by a large number of relatives and friends of the injured young man.