Kovačević parents claim son is innocent

First of all, loved ones are not reliable when it comes to testimonies about "alleged" crimes of their loved ones. this is true universally, and even understandable. but their testimony has no objective meaning.

secondly, i don't believe for one SECoND that this young man was "tortured" in jail. this is the usual kind of talk. it may be true that jails are not 5-star hotels, but torture... we can discuss what that means and who is guilty of it. but not in this case.

now, it is surely true that he can be extradited if the govt in blgd chooses to. if they don't, well, this reputation of serbia harboring and favoring its criminals is so well established, that one case won't change it. but any "democratic" govt. has got to act in a civilized manner -- you can no longer operate like the 90s and then pretend you are so "reformed." it is impossible.

finally, at least in this case, i am pleased with b-92 for continuing to report on this case, and not just allow another cover-up.

Great mother, Great country.
They did the right thing.
USA soldiers in NATO bases abroad, beat, kill, rape locals and noone ever faces a real trial *in* the country of the incident.

Let us all stop sending our youth to make this remote country USA richer.
Stop.

"secondly, i don't believe for one SECoND that this young man was "tortured" in jail"

Yet you are the type who'd automatically believe Albanian claims of being tortured in jail if they accused Serbs.

American jails are full of incidents of homosexual rape, severe abuse (by guards and other inmates) and threats.

The fight was started by others, not Kovacevic - even the girlfriend and boyfriend admit it was started when the boyfriend, Bosnian Muslim Sanel Softic, started accusing Bryan Steinhauer of hitting on the girlfriend.

Then there was head-butting by Bryan on Sanel and he received a bloody nose according to the girlfriend.

Kovacevic only came into play after there was violence between them. The girlfriend says that Bryan threw a hit but doesn't know if it was towards her boyfriend or Kovacevic, but Kovacevic claims he was hit on the side of the head.

There's also been no update by doctors on his medical condition, nor pictures of him, so he might not be as bad off now as the media portray.

Can he sit up? Can he stand? Can he read? They don't tell us this.

"full of incidents of homosexual rape..." Thank you so much for that LURID account of our US jails! actually such things and pretty dismal conditions often occur in prisons, not jail, that has no basis in reality. about YOUR jails, i can only imagine...

as far as all of these case details, we know only what we read and hear-say, and a very real trial needs to take place, in New York. as for this "bosnian Muslim" (does anything ever matter to some of you other than ethnicity???), he will also go to trial. but his govt did NOT spirit him away right after being accused of a violent crime, unlike yours. and that is one big difference! please stop hiding and supporting your "alleged" criminals...

An advise to the father;
If you think your son is innocent than have him go to US and face 12 jurors, because they are the only ones that will proove his innocent.

Roberto, Joe, Ahmet et all, If Mr. Kovacevic is seriosly suspected of severelly beating Mr. Steinhauer in the night club he should face law and has to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. He should not be extradited to the US unless there unless he cannot be tried in Serbia which is not the case. Just think of what would the US do in case of American beating a Serb and fleeing to the US. They would never extradite anyone especially since there is no extradition agreement between Serbia and US unless that person is also a foreign citizen of the demanding country and has perpetuated massive crimes impacting large number of lifes. In fact, that is one of the main reasons the US is against permanent UN war crimes court. The US activelly leads or partipates in more wars than any other nation and has hundreds of millitary bases with almost no accountability for soldiers actions in those countries. While suspected acions of Mr. Kovacevic and perhaps diplomatic personell are very regrettable and need to be reprimanded there is no moral or argument by example to extradite him to the US. Instead, if sufficient facts are available - which might be the case he should stand trial in Serbia.

Pyrros,

Sure you are nominally in the NATO but as a staunchly antiamerican country did you have any meaningful contribution in the last 10 years? I am not aware of any. Please correct me if I am misinformed. As far as I know many much smaller European countries contributed much more.

Ataman,

I am pouzzled by your story.
I assume that lately you can take a citizenship class before taking the citizenship test. So apparently in that class you had an argument with the teacher.
I am just wondering why? Was it more than an argument?...maybe a physical fight? or did you disagree with the laws of the US? These laws are accepted by 300 millions citizens. Also nobody is forcing anybody to become a citizen. It is an honor and privilege to be a US citizen. Hundreds of millions would not mind to become one. So I find your story very strange.
Is it because of this "debate" that you are leaving the US and go to democratic Serbia?

Knowing, how the justice system in the States works all I can say: they did it right.
Let the court in Belgrade decide, is Kovacevic innocent or not and if he is not, he should serve his term in Serbia. The American justice system is so skewed, we (myself and an elderly couple from Zagreb) had a fierce debate with our teacher in the citizenship class.

The debate ended without the result (besides the teacher was convinced, these Croats and Hungarians are insane).

Basically - if someone does not know - the job of the prosecutor is to convince ANYWAY - and there is MONETARY INTEREST for convincing (premium, etc). That means, the prosecutor will:

1) possibly shorter of some money
2) take a hit as a "defeat"

if there is no conviction.

Our argument was: the job of the prosecutor to present the case of the State to his best and pursue the truth (and not possibly hide details which would undermine his case or influence the jurors for his own benefit).

The argument of our teacher was: if the defendant hires a lawyer, it's fair for the state the hire own "lawyer" (prosecutor) and let the two fight with all means they have.

She could not understand, if the prosecutor is personally involved - that is essentially a conflict of interest.

This is why American justice system basically cannot be trusted.

An other reason: most people can afford a decent defense lawyer in BG, but not in the States. If anyone is just touched by American legal system, that is a touch of death at worst and touch of financial death at best.

A guilty has to be punished - but not beyond reason. American justice system does it well beyond reason, hence the procedure was correct. I am glad, Serbia does not extradict own citizens. However, Kovacevic has to stand trial in BG - at least it will be a fair one.

Great mother, Great country.
They did the right thing.
USA soldiers in NATO bases abroad, beat, kill, rape locals and noone ever faces a real trial *in* the country of the incident.

Let us all stop sending our youth to make this remote country USA richer.
Stop.

First of all, loved ones are not reliable when it comes to testimonies about "alleged" crimes of their loved ones. this is true universally, and even understandable. but their testimony has no objective meaning.

secondly, i don't believe for one SECoND that this young man was "tortured" in jail. this is the usual kind of talk. it may be true that jails are not 5-star hotels, but torture... we can discuss what that means and who is guilty of it. but not in this case.

now, it is surely true that he can be extradited if the govt in blgd chooses to. if they don't, well, this reputation of serbia harboring and favoring its criminals is so well established, that one case won't change it. but any "democratic" govt. has got to act in a civilized manner -- you can no longer operate like the 90s and then pretend you are so "reformed." it is impossible.

finally, at least in this case, i am pleased with b-92 for continuing to report on this case, and not just allow another cover-up.

Ataman,

I am pouzzled by your story.
I assume that lately you can take a citizenship class before taking the citizenship test. So apparently in that class you had an argument with the teacher.
I am just wondering why? Was it more than an argument?...maybe a physical fight? or did you disagree with the laws of the US? These laws are accepted by 300 millions citizens. Also nobody is forcing anybody to become a citizen. It is an honor and privilege to be a US citizen. Hundreds of millions would not mind to become one. So I find your story very strange.
Is it because of this "debate" that you are leaving the US and go to democratic Serbia?

"full of incidents of homosexual rape..." Thank you so much for that LURID account of our US jails! actually such things and pretty dismal conditions often occur in prisons, not jail, that has no basis in reality. about YOUR jails, i can only imagine...

as far as all of these case details, we know only what we read and hear-say, and a very real trial needs to take place, in New York. as for this "bosnian Muslim" (does anything ever matter to some of you other than ethnicity???), he will also go to trial. but his govt did NOT spirit him away right after being accused of a violent crime, unlike yours. and that is one big difference! please stop hiding and supporting your "alleged" criminals...

An advise to the father;
If you think your son is innocent than have him go to US and face 12 jurors, because they are the only ones that will proove his innocent.

"secondly, i don't believe for one SECoND that this young man was "tortured" in jail"

Yet you are the type who'd automatically believe Albanian claims of being tortured in jail if they accused Serbs.

American jails are full of incidents of homosexual rape, severe abuse (by guards and other inmates) and threats.

The fight was started by others, not Kovacevic - even the girlfriend and boyfriend admit it was started when the boyfriend, Bosnian Muslim Sanel Softic, started accusing Bryan Steinhauer of hitting on the girlfriend.

Then there was head-butting by Bryan on Sanel and he received a bloody nose according to the girlfriend.

Kovacevic only came into play after there was violence between them. The girlfriend says that Bryan threw a hit but doesn't know if it was towards her boyfriend or Kovacevic, but Kovacevic claims he was hit on the side of the head.

There's also been no update by doctors on his medical condition, nor pictures of him, so he might not be as bad off now as the media portray.

Can he sit up? Can he stand? Can he read? They don't tell us this.

Pyrros,

Sure you are nominally in the NATO but as a staunchly antiamerican country did you have any meaningful contribution in the last 10 years? I am not aware of any. Please correct me if I am misinformed. As far as I know many much smaller European countries contributed much more.

Knowing, how the justice system in the States works all I can say: they did it right.
Let the court in Belgrade decide, is Kovacevic innocent or not and if he is not, he should serve his term in Serbia. The American justice system is so skewed, we (myself and an elderly couple from Zagreb) had a fierce debate with our teacher in the citizenship class.

The debate ended without the result (besides the teacher was convinced, these Croats and Hungarians are insane).

Basically - if someone does not know - the job of the prosecutor is to convince ANYWAY - and there is MONETARY INTEREST for convincing (premium, etc). That means, the prosecutor will:

1) possibly shorter of some money
2) take a hit as a "defeat"

if there is no conviction.

Our argument was: the job of the prosecutor to present the case of the State to his best and pursue the truth (and not possibly hide details which would undermine his case or influence the jurors for his own benefit).

The argument of our teacher was: if the defendant hires a lawyer, it's fair for the state the hire own "lawyer" (prosecutor) and let the two fight with all means they have.

She could not understand, if the prosecutor is personally involved - that is essentially a conflict of interest.

This is why American justice system basically cannot be trusted.

An other reason: most people can afford a decent defense lawyer in BG, but not in the States. If anyone is just touched by American legal system, that is a touch of death at worst and touch of financial death at best.

A guilty has to be punished - but not beyond reason. American justice system does it well beyond reason, hence the procedure was correct. I am glad, Serbia does not extradict own citizens. However, Kovacevic has to stand trial in BG - at least it will be a fair one.

Roberto, Joe, Ahmet et all, If Mr. Kovacevic is seriosly suspected of severelly beating Mr. Steinhauer in the night club he should face law and has to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. He should not be extradited to the US unless there unless he cannot be tried in Serbia which is not the case. Just think of what would the US do in case of American beating a Serb and fleeing to the US. They would never extradite anyone especially since there is no extradition agreement between Serbia and US unless that person is also a foreign citizen of the demanding country and has perpetuated massive crimes impacting large number of lifes. In fact, that is one of the main reasons the US is against permanent UN war crimes court. The US activelly leads or partipates in more wars than any other nation and has hundreds of millitary bases with almost no accountability for soldiers actions in those countries. While suspected acions of Mr. Kovacevic and perhaps diplomatic personell are very regrettable and need to be reprimanded there is no moral or argument by example to extradite him to the US. Instead, if sufficient facts are available - which might be the case he should stand trial in Serbia.