Former diplomat behind bars

2008-09-04 14:04

Dusan Stojanovic

Belgrade - A former Serb diplomat suspected of helping a Serbian college student charged with assault flee the United States was told on Thursday he must spend 30 days in jail while an investigation is done.

A Belgrade court said Serbia's former deputy consul in New York, Igor Milosevic, will remain in custody on charges he provided emergency travel documents to Miladin Kovacevic, who is alleged to have brutally beaten American schoolmate Bryan Steinhauer on May 4.

Steinhauer, 22, only recently emerged from a coma that resulted from a barroom brawl in upstate New York.

Milosevic is suspected of "abusing" his diplomatic position and of falsifying the travel documents that helped Kovacevic flee the United States in June, the Belgrade District Court said.

Milosevic can be sentenced to up to two years in jail if found guilty.

Milosevic was arrested in Belgrade on Tuesday for questioning. He was recalled from the United States and fired from Serbia's diplomatic service over the case, which has strained relations between Washington and Belgrade over Serbia's refusal to send Kovacevic back to America for trial.

Serbian law does not allow its citizens to be extradited, and Serb officials have suggested that US authorities should hand over the full Kovacevic case file so Serbian officials can consider whether he should be prosecuted in Serbia.

Kovacevic, 20, a towering Serb who was recruited to play basketball for Binghamton University in New York state, surrendered his Serbian passport when released on bail in the US, but then fled to Serbia, reportedly with the help of the new travel documents.

Meanwhile, Kovacevic has signed a contract to play for a basketball team in a regional Serbian league.

His lawyer has been quoted by Serbian media as saying Kovacevic hoped the move would help him fight depression.

- AP