A lawyer for Miladin Kovacevic says that the 6'9" 260 lb. basketball player doesn't trust the U.S. legal system and was taunted and tortured by inmates and guards after he was arrested for allegedly beating a 135 lb. college senior into a coma in Binghamton last month. Veselin Cerovic explained that's why Kovacevic jumped bail and fled the country with an emergency passport issued by the Serbian consulate in New York, "My client told me that he did not flee to hide from justice, but because he doesn't believe in the American justice system."
The Serbian government has since relieved the Consul General, Slobodan Nenodovic, from his position and WCBS reports that the Serbian Vice Consul who was instrumental in getting Kovacevic out of the country will face criminal charges--diplomatic immunity notwithstanding. Serbia and the United States do not have a standing extradition treaty, so the impetus to have Kovacevic returned to the U.S. is leaning heavily on political pressure.
Kovacevic was attending SUNY Binghamton on a basketball scholarship and is accused of beating Bryan Steinhauer of Brooklyn into a coma with the help of two other students who have also been arrested. It's suspected that the men thought that Steinhauer had groped a woman in their company at a bar.
