Lawyer says Serbia tried to persuade student to face US assault charges

21/08/2008

BELGRADE, Serbia -- The lawyer representing Miladin Kovacevic, the 20-year-old who is wanted in the United States for allegedly beating a fellow Binghamton University student in May, said on Wednesday (August 20th) that Serbia has tried to persuade Kovacevic to return to New York to face assault charges. Kovacevic fled the United States with a duplicate passport issued by the Serbian consulate to replace the original document that US authorities seized after the incident. Attorney Veselin Cerovic says Kovacevic refuses to return to the United States despite numerous attempts by Serbian officials to persuade him. Cerovic also says that Kovacevic rejected a plea bargain in which prosecutors offered him a 12-year prison sentence in return for pleading guilty. The beating victim remains in a coma. (Blic - 21/08/08; AP, Foxnews, B92 - 20/08/08)