“Who the hell is Miladin Kovacevic,” you might ask, “A war criminal?”

Not quite, he is a Serb college basketball player involved in the horrific beating of a fellow student in a New York State town who was then helped to escape the USA and return to Serbia by a Serbian diplomat.

The US government is justifiably outraged at this gross abuse of privilege and obstruction of justice.

Serbs everywhere should be outraged that that their own government have not just obstructed justice (bad enough) but tarnished the Serbian diplomatic corp as corrupt criminals who abuse diplomatic privileges to help known fugitives escape justice and they have helped reinforce the Serbs-as-violent-thugs stereotype by making sure this dreadful story of alleged Serb thuggery is front page news becuase of the Serbian state’s involvement, albeit just one corrupt individual.

Thew whole sorry affair revolves around a violent bar fight on the night of May 5th 2008 in the University town of Binghamton in upstate New York.

Here is one account of what happened:

It was the wee hours of Sunday morning at the Rathskeller, a popular hangout for Binghamton college kids, and pretty Melissa Cartagena felt an unwelcome hand on her body.

It was just a grope – but it was late, the guys were drunk and soon things got out of hand.

The scene was a birthday party with a Studio 54 theme, the dance floor was full, graduation was two weeks off.

Among the many revelers was Bryan Steinhauer, a senior honors student with a slight build and a bright future.

Miladin Kovacevic was there, too. The sophomore basketball player, a burly 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds, towered above Steinhauer and the rest of the crowd. The jock and the aspiring accountant traveled in different campus circles – but they found themselves in an uncomfortably small space inside the bar on State St.

Ann Pesahovitz and Lauren Levy, standing just off the dance floor, noticed the mismatched duo. A baby blue shirt covered Steinhauer’s 135-pound physique. He stood a full foot shorter than Kovacevic, who was dressed in black.

It was about 1:20 a.m. on May 4. There was a commotion and “a lot of yelling,” Levy recalled, apparently after someone groped Cartagena – a pretty Binghamton University sophomore with Kovacevic’s group.

The dark-haired beauty wasn’t there with the ballplayer; she was with boyfriend, Sanel Softic, a 21-year-old wanna-be state trooper who claims he never laid a hand on the victim.

Kovacevic took it upon himself to defend her honor – though it was not clear who groped Cartagena. Seconds later, Steinhauer wasn’t standing; then he wasn’t getting up. The bespectacled senior was battered to the dance floor. Witnesses recalled the big man’s foot thudding into the smaller student’s torso. And then his head.

Over and over.

Steinhauer – his cheeks shattered, his skull fractured, his brain swelling – was defenseless, his body motionless.

Pesahovitz said the violence ended as abruptly as it began. “He just stopped kicking the victim,” she told police, “and left.”

[From Binghamton University student at heart of Miladin Kovacevic's attack ]

Kovacevic was arrested a few hours later and spent several weeks behind bars. This is where the sad and brutal story of a violent bar fight becomes a cause celebre and yet another PR disaster for Serbs and Serbia.

Kovacevic was still behind bars when June arrived, although his parents – doctors in their homeland – were working with Serb diplomats to get his bail posted.

At a June 6 hearing, Serbian diplomat Igor Milosevic and the suspect’s mother arrived in Broome County Court with $20,000 cash and an $80,000 money order.

“Standard diplomatic practice,” Serbian Consulate General Slobodan Nenadovic said later.

Kovacevic surrendered his passport, and the local judge instructed him to stay in Broome County pending trial on a felony assault charge.

Just before 6 p.m., the hulking hoopster left the courthouse. Within 72 hours, Kovacevic had left the country – with a new, hastily-issued replacement passport. A high-ranking Serbian government official said Kovacevic’s mother, Branka, wept and begged until Milosevic provided the get-out-of-jail-free card – an emergency document.

Kovacevic flashed the paperwork to board a Lufthansa flight out of Newark. His mother was on the flight with him.

His deception was discovered only when county officials became concerned that he might jump bail. They notified customs officials at the Canadian border that Kovacevic could try to enter the country without a passport.

A check of his status showed Kovacevic was gone. So was Milosevic; officials at the Serbian consulate in Manhattan said he was on vacation as the beating exploded into an international cause celébrè.

Milosevic, his career in tatters, slipped back into Serbia Friday to receive a likely pink slip and possible criminal trial.

Kovacevic was hiding out in his homeland.

[From Binghamton University student at heart of Miladin Kovacevic's attack ]

The Serbian government (wait, Serbia does not have a government yet!) now have an opportunity to show their maturity and International standing by swiftly correcting the “mistakes” by their Consulate in New York.

Despite what his parents say about the tabloid media bias against him (which does appear to be true), Miladin Kovacevic must return to the USA to face justice. The US courts will take full account of the media circus and careful jury selection by a competent lawyer will ensure a fair trial. Anything less than this and he becomes just another excuse to smear Serbs. And anyway, it is the right thing to do.

Igor Milosevic, the diplomat who “was swayed by a mother’s tears” needs to face the consequences of his stupidity. In a sense he is even more responsible that Kovacevic because he knowingly helped an accused man escape custody and violate the terms of his parole. This is a crime. Diplomats do have immunity in their territories they are stationed, but they are not above national law. At the very least Mr Milosevic should be fired (if it can be proved he was merely stupid). If there is any suggestion of bribe or mens rea, he should face criminal charges here in Serbia.

He completely violated diplomatic accords and brought shame and disrepute upon his country – the very opposite of a diplomat’s mission. An example to any other diplomats “swayed by a mother’s tears” might be well advised.

See also:

Bar fight in upstate New York turns into international incident as Serbian suspect flees – Associated Press
Thug Life: Finding Miladin Kovacevic – NY Post

Serbian diplomat Igor Milosevic punished for aiding Miladin Kovacevic – NY Daily News

This was sent today to protest the silly exaggerations in the article referenced.

Dear Sir or Madam,

In an article in your newspaper yesterday “The Kosovo question”, (accessed online at http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=42653 ) S.M. Rashed Ahmed writes:

“KOSOVO’S independence is a triumph of the right of self-determination and freedom. Serbian military and security forces had for years suppressed the freedom movement of the people of Kosovo through one of the worst genocides in history”.

This is factually incorrect, and since it comes from a former Ambassador to Kosovo who should know better, this claim is serious lapse of balance, fairness and professionalism.

There was never a genocide in Kosovo. Even in Bosnia, where crimes against civilians were an order of magnitude worse, only the Srebrenica massacre is considered to be an act of genocide.

So I repeat, Kosovo was never “subjected to a genocide”, and to describe what happened there as “one of the worst genocides in history” grossly exaggerates what really happened and cheapens real genocides, like the Jewish holocaust.

Mr Ahmad goes on to make three pivotal claims to support his later statements:

“Kosovo, like Bangladesh, was subjected to genocide and won its independence through a bloody war of independence after the KLA, the “Mukti Bahini” of Kosovo, waged a heroic fight supported by its allies.

Kosovo has emerged from socialist one-party government to become a democratic multi- religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural pluralistic society with a market economy and a free media. It is predominately a Muslim majority country in the heart of Eastern Europe, but the Kosovo Albanian Muslims are very tolerant and firmly committed to democracy and human rights, and are against misuse of religion for political ends.

Recognition of the Republic of Kosovo is vital for peace and stability, not only for Kosovo but also for Serbia and the entire Balkans. Serbia’s fragile transition to democracy and free market economy is being threatened by the defeated Milosovic [sic] forces and the rise of radicals and extremists in former Yugoslavia, who are allegedly responsible for the assassination of the former prime minister Djindic [sic].”

Kosovo’s “independence” is very much in dispute and certainly not fait accompli.

The KLA were a US State Department listed terrorist organization and they are directly implicated in mass murder, organized crime, the abduction of civilians and the Ethnic Cleansing of up to 200,000 non-Albanians (Serbs, Roma and Gorani).

Whilst it is true that Kosovo has emerged from socialist one-party government to become a democratic multi- religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural pluralistic society with a market economy and a free media, so has Serbia.

Kosovo is not achieving freedom and independence from a dictatorship or colonial rule, we are witnessing the creation of an ethno-state seceding from a sovereign democracy. This is a deeply worrying for those who see the dangers of this precedent, even if they sympathize with the ambitions of the people of Kosovo.

Right now I think partition is best. Northern Kosovo will remain in Serbia, the rest will have its independence.

Sadly, ethnic partitioning is well established precedent in the Balkans and elsewhere. Bangladeshis should know this very well since their country was the child of just such a partitioning.

Kind regards,

Jonathan Davis
http://www.belgradefvc.com

Very interesting comments from former Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith testifying in the Ante Gotovina trial.

Apart from his rather weak contention that the expulsion of the Krajia Serbs was not ethnic cleansing because the population had fled before the invaders arrived, the bulk of his statement is damning.

Galbraith is appearing as a prosecution witness in the UN war crimes court’s case against Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak and Mladeni Markač, former Croatian generals charged with war crimes against ethnic Serbs during the 1995 Operation Storm.

In his evidence he said that former Croatian President Franjo Tuđman believed that all countries, including Croatia, had to be ethnically homogenous, seeing Serbs as a threat to this ideal.

Galbraith then addressed one of his previous testimonies, where he said the expulsion of some 250,000 Croatian Serbs did not qualify for ethnic cleansing, “although there had been crimes, committed either on the orders or with the tacit approval of the Croatian leadership, in the presence and with the participation of the military”.

….Galbraith…said that he and other American officials had information months before Operation Storm that there would be a military attack on the Serb Krajina.

…But the U.S. never green-lighted the operation, he contended. However, since the U.S. administration knew the assault might be launched, “it expressly warned the Croatian authorities and president Tuđman of their obligation to protect the Serb civilians and prisoners of war. The atrocities like those committed in the Medak Pocket in 1993 were not to be repeated”.

In the first days after the arrival of the Croatian Army in Knin, Galbraith recounted, the reports of the U.S. embassy personnel indicated there were widespread killings of Serb civilians and destruction of their houses, “thus confirming that the situation in the field was exactly what the U.S. administration wanted to prevent”.

In Galbraith’s opinion, this happened “on the orders or with the tacit approval of the Croatian leadership, in the presence and with the participation of the military”.

Although the prosecution indicted the three for deportation and forcible transfer of the Serbs, its witness, Galbraith, does not see Operation Storm as ethnic cleansing, mainly “because most of the population had already fled when the Croatian army and police arrived”

“You cannot ethnically cleanse somebody who is no longer there, although it doesn’t mean that the Croatian forces would not have done it if the Serbs had remained there,” he told the court.

In his view, the Serb Republic of Krajina (RSK) authorities are responsible for the Serbs’ departure “because they had urged the population to leave”.

However, then Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Šušak “admitted to Galbraith that the Croatian authorities engaged in psychological warfare that partly contributed to the exodus”.

When the Serbs left Krajina, the Croatian authorities did everything to prevent them from returning, issuing a decree to confiscate the property of all those who failed to return within thirty days.

Furthermore, their houses were destroyed and their return obstructed in various ways. According to Galbraith, this fit Tuđman’s idea of an ethnically homogenous Croatia.

Whenever they met, the president would emphasize that every country should be ethnically homogenous, adding that local Serbs posed a threat to the homogeneity of the Croatian state.

“He was not ashamed of his views and I wondered how he could imagine that an American would accept his reasoning,” Galbraith said, noting that the Croatian president “spoke favorably of the so-called humane transfer of population”.

“Tuđman’s attitude towards Muslims was racist and he advocated the division of Bosnia which would lead to the creation of a Greater Croatia,” Galbraith concluded.

[From B92 - News - Crime & War crimes - Galbraith: Op Storm no ethnic cleansing]

It seem rather weak that the Serbs permanent expulsion form the Krajina is not considered Ethnic Cleansing whilst the temporary Kosovo Albanian exodus in 1999, which took placer under very similar circumstances, is on record as Ethnic Cleansing. It would appear that if you are a Serb and you flee your home before an invasion force actually arrives, your departure is not Ethnic Cleansing even though the warnings that drove you to flee turned out to be true and you were permanently prevented from returning home. Other nationalities and ethnic groups do not seem to have to to meet these exacting qualifying criteria for Ethnic Cleansing.

Common definitions of Ethnic Cleansing all pretty much express an understanding of constructive expulsion, namely that when you leave is irrelevant – it could be just before, during or after an action – but rather that you were forced to leave, be it for fear of your safety, at gun point or forcibly removed.

‘Considered in the context of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, ethnic cleansing means rendering an area ethnically homogenous by using force and intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area.” – Commission of Experts, in their first Interim Report 10/2/1993

“…ethnic cleansing can be understood as the expulsion of an `undesirable’ population from a given territory due to religious or ethnic discrimination, political, strategic or ideological considerations, or a combination of these.” Andrew Bell-Fialkoff

What what happened in Operation Storm certainly qualifies for the broader definitions of Ethnic Cleansing and based Galbraith’s testimony, it would appear the narrow definitions stand too.

Area rendered ethnically homogenous? yes. Force and intimidation used? – yes. “Undesirable” population expelled? – yes. Based on a policy (tacit or explicit) – yes?

I think that is pretty damning.

Additionally, I am not sure why Kosovo is considered but many to be legitimate, yet the identical arrangement – an ethnic microstate (Krajina) within a state (Croatia) – was considered to be illegitimate and worthy of clandestine US help in invading and reabsorbing it.

I think the Serbs might very well be onto something when they complain of a double standard. It seems even from my non-Serb perspective that the benefit of the doubt / definitional technicality / failure of the system seem to consistently be to the detriment of Serbs. This is of course labelled paranoia and bad faith, but in my opinion it is well justified.

A few weeks ago a visiting Irish friend of mine went out to resupply us wit booze and came back complaining that he could not find Cranberry juice for the vodka.

I told him, as a joke, that Cranberry juice was only sold in Pharmacies in Belgrade as a remedy for cystitis and other bladder conditions. This led to a series of lame gags about rinsing your equipment in Guinness to cure the pox and having to ask for your Cranberry Juice in the same hushed tones one uses for condoms .

Imagine my surprise when I went into my local pharmacy at the weekend only to find…you guessed it….Cranberry juice on sale! 

It is the only place I have ever seen it on sale in Belgrade.