A friend flagged me on this news from NYC, asking if I ever dated this guy while in Mass or the Balkans (f****** retard that my friend is). Apparently, this chap is very wanted in the US....
No official search for fugitive student
3 July 2008 16:47 -> 18:37 Source: B92, FoNet
BELGRADE -- Serbian institutions have yet to receive any official information from the U.S. regarding the case of Miladin Kovačević.The Serbian national is suspected of brutally assaulting a fellow student Bryan Steinhauer on May 4 in the United States. State Prosecutor Slobodan Radovanović told B92 that Serbia will do everything it can to solve the case once it receives an official request. Radovanović said that the only information he has about the case has been through the media. “The American institutions can rest assured that Serbia will do everything within its legal possibilities to sanction this and to make sure that possible perpetrators of such act are not left unpunished." "On the other hand, I must say that we are still waiting for an official demand and official information, and we will act according to that,” Radovanović said. In the meantime, the government yesterday, in connection to the case,
dismissed the New York consul-general, Slobodan Nenadović. Kovačević was issued a new passport by the consulate, even though a U.S. court was did not allow him to leave the country. The student Kovačević is accused of assaulting is currently in a coma. Kovačević has put into custody after the event, but released on June 5 on USD 100,000 bail. Serbian vice-consul Igor Milošević issued the suspect a new passport after the original one was confiscated, which allowed Kovačević to flee America. Disciplinary actions will be taken against the vice-consul, but Radovanović said today that the diplomat might face criminal charges as well. Earlier today, a Kovačević family lawyer said the case has a political dimension. "This case is above all a legal issue that is now under the jurisdiction of Serbian law. The law on criminal proceedings categorically rules out extradition of a Serbian citizen to a foreign country during criminal proceedings if the citizen is on Serbian territory,” Veselin Cerović told FoNet. The lawyer believes that the case is becoming more and more political thanks to the sensationalist approach to the case in certain domestic and foreign media, and by statements coming from “certain American senators in attempt to promote themselves.” "Everything is absolutely clear in this case. Any type of questioning of Kovačević, who is a Serbian citizen, should be conducted by the domestic judiciary, once all the relevant and valid documents have been received from U.S. officials,” Cerović said, adding that everything should be carried out in accordance with Serbian law. He said that Kovačević had been released from custody by the U.S. authorities, after paying the bail. "When that decision was made, the court adequately estimated the possible real damage that might be incurred in the event of Kovačević leaving the United States, and thus becoming unavailable to the U.S. judicial system,” Cerović explained. He did not want to comment on how Kovačević had managed to leave the United States or on whose passport Kovačević had used, stating only that he would talk about it at a press conference scheduled for tomorrow. According to the U.S. media, Kovačević’s family pressured Serbian vice-consul Igor Milošević into issuing him a new passport, thus enabling Kovačević to return to Serbia.
On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Belgrade Cameron Munter called on the Serbian authorities to react, and return Kovačević to the United States to face trial.
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UPDATEBy Jack Carey, USA TODAY
United States government officials are continuing to press for the return of a former Binghamton University basketball player, who was arrested and charged in the severe beating of a fellow student before fleeing last month to Serbia. Representatives from the offices of New York Democratic senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton along with staff members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met Wednesday with Vladimir Petrovic, the Serbian Embassy's Charge d'Affairs, to urge that Miladin Kovacevic be returned for trial, and expressed that there would be "significant consequences for Serbia" if the matter was not resolved, a joint statement from the senators said. Kovacevic, a Serbian national, was charged in connection with the alleged May 4 assault of Bryan Steinhauer at a Binghamton, N.Y., bar. The incident fractured Steinhauer's skull and left him in a coma two weeks before he was to graduate with a degree in accounting. Kovacevic was jailed on a felony assault charge and forced to surrender his passport. However, on June 6 the Serbian Consulate in New York posted the $100,000 bail for Kovacevic and aided his return to Serbia by issuing an emergency passport. Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said Monday in Belgrade that Kovacevic would not be extradited and suggested U.S. authorities hand over the case file so Kovacevic could be prosecuted in Serbia. Kovacevic last week signed a contract with a Serbian basketball team, which said it expects him to show up for the start of the club's practice sessions on Aug. 10. "Because of the aid of Serbian officials, Mr. Kovacevic is living his life openly and freely in Serbia while the Steinhauer family is spending every day praying that their son will recover from his life-threatening injuries," Clinton said in the statement. "We continue to urge the Serbian government to do everything in its power to uphold the rule of law and facilitate the immediate and unconditional return of Mr. Kovacevic to face prosecution."
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