Results tagged “upstateattack”

Senator Hillary Clinton will not give up in her attempts to bring Miladin Kovacevic back to the US in order to face due process. Kovacevic fled the country after being accused of beating Brooklyn's Bryan Steinhauer within an inch of his life this past spring. Since there has not been a great deal of cooperation from Serbian officials in extraditing Kovacevic, Hillary is now trying to pull at the purse strings of the Serbian basketball league he has signed to play with. The senator sent a letter yesterday to sneaker company AND1 and several other corporate backers encouraging them to pull their sponsorship from the league. While Serbian justice officials are still saying that there is not enough evidence to force Kovacevic back to the States, last week the diplomat who falsified a passport in order to allow him to leave the US was sentenced to a month in jail.

Miladin Kovacevic, the 6-foot-9-inch brute who has caused an international incident by fleeing back to Serbia to duck charges of beating a Brooklyn college student within an inch of his life, was seen out in public for the first time yesterday working out with his new Serbian basketball squad. When asked about the newest player on his semi-pro squad, his coach Bojan Markovic said, "It's his business. I don't get involved...We hope he will help us improve our scores." Both Senators Clinton and Schumer have been trying to pressure Serbia into extraditing Kovacevic back to the US, but Serbian officials say it is against their nation's constitution. Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that Serbia would like to see him return, but that "His decision...is that he does not want to do that."

While U.S. officials are hoping the Serbian government will turn over 21-year-old Miladin Kovacevic, who fled the U.S. after allegedly beating a fellow Binghamton University student, his mother took time to tell the Post he's in bad shape. Emotional shape, that is. Kovacevic's mother, who is a psychiatrist, said, "He is depressed about the unfair treatment. He is depressed about the media coverage, the Interpol warrant, the comments about him on the Internet, the fact that authorities are continually changing the charges on him in America." Another thing to be sad about: Steinhauer, who is slowly emerging from a coma (he's been in one since May).

According to the Daily News, U.S. diplomatic officials have asked the Serbian government for the return of Miladin Kovacevic by August 1. The 21-year-old is accused of beating a fellow Binghamton University student, Brooklyn resident Bryan Steinhauer, into a coma in May. Though Kovacevic was in custody, the Serbian vice consul general helped him make bail and gave him an emergency passport to flee the country. While the Serbian government has claimed it would work with the U.S. on the matter, Kovacevic has said he will not return to the U.S. and signed a contract to play basketball for a local team in Serbia.

The U.S. Embassy in Serbia issued a statement saying officials had met with the parents of Miladin Kovacevic, the Serbian national charged with beating a Brooklyn man in upstate NY. Per the AP, the statement read, "The United States has not formally requested extradition at this time. We sincerely believe that it is in the best interests of Mr. Kovacevic to return voluntarily to the U.S., rather than to remain a fugitive. The meeting was constructive and the Kovacevic family and counsel were receptive to the points raised in the discussion." To reporters, Kovacevic's parents denied their son was involved in the attack and said he was "depressed."