Rape case

In 1998, Bulatović was charged with rape, a criminal accusation he was subsequently found guilty of in two separate trials. The event in question took place on 27 May 1998 in his Belgrade apartment where, as determined in two Belgrade District Court trials, the 27-year-old FMP Železnik center Bulatović raped the underage 15-year-old gymnasium student N.S. who showed up to his apartment with the intention of completing an earlier commenced interview for a school paper. She was of legal age of consent for sexual activity according to Serbian laws at the time. Bulatović pleaded not guilty, claiming the sexual intercourse with N.S. was consensual.^[5]

The investigation process at the Belgrade District Court was presided by the investigating judge Dobrivoje Gerasimović. At the very first discovery session, the entire FMP Železnik player roster led by the club's owner and president Nebojša Čović showed up at the court session in support of Bulatović.^[6] Over the subsequent few months, Bulatović—who simultaneously made the FR Yugoslavia national team for the 1998 World Championship—transferred to KK Budućnost during the summer transfer window, a move that entailed relocation from Belgrade to Podgorica and was seen by some as an attempt to evade responsibility.^[6] With Bulatović charged with rape, the first court date of the trial at the Belgrade District Court took place on 23 September 1998, with Bulatović absent due to professional obligations.^[6] He showed up at the next court date, held on 19 October 1998, providing testimony for two hours.^[6] In December 1998, the trial concluded with Bulatović sentenced to three years in prison.^[6]

On appeal, the verdict was overturned and the new trial in June 2003 resulted in a 5-year sentence for Bulatović. Explaining the increased length of the second sentence, judge Dragoljub Albijanić—presiding over the Belgrade District Court judicial council that passed down the verdict—stated that the circumstances of the accused being a national team member when committing the crime as well as the victim suffering long term psychological effects were taken as aggravating factors.^[7]

After another appeal, the case went before the Serbian Supreme Court where the lower court's verdict was confirmed in January 2006.^[7] With the dissolution of the Serbia and Montenegro state union later that year, the case was transferred to the newly independent Montenegro's judicial system in accordance with Bulatović's primary place of residence in Podgorica, Montenegro.^[7] Podgorica Lower Court thus became responsible for processing the stipulations in the verdict, but reportedly failed to do so in timely manner.^[7]

In May 2009, at the Belgrade District Court's urging—with Bulatović still a free man more than three years after the final verdict—an Interpol arrest warrant was issued for his capture.^[7]

After two and half years on Interpol's wanted list,^[7] Bulatović was arrested in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in December 2011.^[8] Within days, he was extradited to Montenegro^[9] where he began serving his 5-year sentence. He was released from Spuž prison in November 2015 having served four years and fifteen days, an early release reportedly due to the expiry of statute of limitations.^[10]