Citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina Vladimir Jovancic was released from custody in Croatia and extradited to Italy because he admitted guilt in the case of Artem Uss’s escape from house arrest and began to cooperate with the investigation. This was reported by Radio Liberty with reference to the lawyer of the Bosnian Gordan Pregley.
Under the terms of the deal, Jovancic must cooperate with the Italian authorities, and he was also assigned three years of community service. As part of the deal, US prosecutors withdrew their request to extradite the Bosnian, the lawyer said. The department told Radio Liberty that the extradition procedure has been suspended, but the charges against the man remain in force.
Jovancic was arrested in December 2023 in Croatia. According to the American prosecutor's office, he, along with “other individuals associated with a Serbian criminal group,” organized the escape from house arrest of Artem Uss, the son of Russian senator Alexander Uss. The Bosnian initially came to his home under the guise of a food delivery man.
On the day of the escape, the Washington Post wrote, Jovancic walked Uss to his car and gave him a bolt cutter to remove the bracelet from his leg. After this, the man and his assistants took the senator’s son to Serbia through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jovancic received 50 thousand euros for this.
Another person involved in the case, Slovenian Matej Janezic, was extradited to Italy from Slovenia, Radio Liberty was told in the Ljubljana court.
Artem Uss was detained in Milan in October 2022 at the request of the United States. Together with four other Russians, he is suspected of purchasing sanctioned dual-use electronics and military technologies, as well as organizing schemes for the sale of oil through front companies.
Pending the court's decision to extradite Uss to the United States, he was placed under house arrest. The fact that the senator's son fled from there became known two days after a court in Milan approved his extradition to the United States.
In total, eight people were charged in the escape case. One of those arrested is the founder of the Pravo.ru portal Dmitry Chirakadze. According to Italian authorities, he orchestrated Uss' escape plan, maintained constant contact with his family and met with the people who helped Uss escape.
Chirakadze was detained at the Rome airport in mid-June. According to Radio Liberty, Serbian businessman Srdjan Lolic testified against him. The latter has also been charged in connection with the escape of Uss, but his whereabouts are unknown.