Serbian laws forbidding extraditions are protecting Miladin Kovacevic, a student wanted by the United States after he brutally beat a fellow student, the government in Belgrade said Monday in a case that has tested Serbian-US relations.
It was up to Kovacevic whether he would turn himself in for a trial, a newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic as saying, dpa reported.
"It is his personal decision and I don't know if he will change it," Jeremic said according to daily Blic.
Kovacevic, 21, along with two friends, was charged after nearly killing a fellow student from Binghamton, a university town in New York state in May.
He fled to Serbia a month later, after a 100,000-dollar bail was posted, reportedly by the Serbian consulate which also issued Kovacevic an "emergency passport", replacing the one confiscated by US authorities.
The run outraged US leaders. New York senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer have threatened to cut off US aid to Serbia unless Belgrade arrests Kovacevic and extradites him, but without any effect so far.
Americans were further outraged last week when US newspapers ran photos of Kovacevic, a heavily-muscled, 2.05 metres tall basketball player training in public with the local team in his hometown Vrbas, 100 kilometres northwest of Belgrade.
Serbia's constitution forbids extraditing its citizens for trial, except to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Jeremic admitted the case "harmed Serbia's image in the world" and said "it would be best if it could be resolved through an agreement - the laws of Serbia are clear and protect our citizens."
That could mean either a trial in Serbia or Kovacevic's voluntary surrender to US authorities. However, his family and attorneys have said they did not believe he would receive a fair trial in New York.
The diplomatic row followed the cooling of relations over the US support of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February and a mob attack on the American embassy in Belgrade.