Interior minister says hit-and-run driver has fled country

Interior minister says hit-and-run driver has fled country

The man was "previously known to the police," and the vehicle he drove when he hit Jovanović has not been recovered, the minister said, and added that six persons suspected of helping him cover up the crime have been detained.

Jovanović died on Branko's Bridge in Belgrade on July 25, as he was helping friends move a broken down Lada to the slow lane. The interior minister said that the suspect and his friends were driving from one river barge club to another when the accident occurred.

Milićev allegedly decided to flee the scene and told those traveling with him in his car "not to say anything about the traffic accident."

If put on trial and found guilty, he will face punishment of up to eight years in prison for grave violations of traffic safety and failure to help a traffic accident victim.

The six accomplices have been indicted and if found guilty, could be sent to prison for up to five years.

The minister also revealed that Milićev entered Turkey using his own passport, and that Serbian authorities expect he will soon be arrested and extradited.

According to Stefanović, "Milićev's (last) name used to be Marković," and he has previous convictions, including in Germany.

It is suspected that Milićev is a member of a drug trafficking gang from Belgrade's Zvezdara municipality.

The police now believe that the vehicle he drove that night - a Mini Cooper Countryman - "was not legally purchased, and had foreign license plates."

The minister said that the police came to these findings "through operative work, and with the help of four witnesses."

In the wake of the deadly accident, the father of Luka Jovanović held daily protests on the bridge demanding that the driver be caught and punished. He was on several occasions joined by other citizens, and after coming under pressure from the public, the police released security camera footage, which, however, did not show the license plate number of the car.

Late last week, the Tabloid website claimed that the hit-and-run driver was Snežana Divac, the wife of Serbia's legendary basketball player Vlade Divac. She strenuously denied the accusation, and authorities over the weekend said it was baseless.