The Czech Republic has extradited a Russian man to the US to face charges of hacking computers at LinkedIn, Dropbox and other US companies, an official said on Friday.
Yevgeniy Nikulin was flown to the US overnight, Czech Ministry of Justice spokeswoman Tereza Schejbalova said.
Nikulin denies he is a hacker.
His defense attorney said his case is politically motivated in the US.
The decision by Czech Minister of Justice Robert Pelikan was announced just minutes after the Czech Constitutional Court released a statement that it rejected a last-minute appeal from the Nikulin as “groundless.”
No further details were immediately available about the decision in a case that pitted the US against Russia.
Czech authorities in October 2016 arrested Nikulin in Prague in cooperation with the FBI.
He is accused by US prosecutors of penetrating computers at Silicon Valley firms in 2012 and they want him extradited to face trial.
Russia also wanted him extradited on a separate charge of Internet theft in 2009.
Both countries submitted their extradition requests on the same date.
The Russian authorities previously had said they would do all they could to prevent Nikulin’s extradition to the US.
Czech courts previously ruled both extradition requests meet the necessary legal conditions, leaving the decision to the minister.
However, after a last-ditch complaint filed by Nikulin with the Constitutional Court, the minister had to hold off on a decision until the court ruled.
Earlier this week, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said in Prague that under Czech extradition law “we have every reason to believe and expect that Mr Nikulin will be extradited to America.”
However, the Czech Republic’s pro-Russia President Milos Zeman repeatedly asked Pelikan to allow Nikulin’s extradition to Russia, the minister said.
Zeman has no official say in cases like this one.
Pelikan’s decision will likely further strain relations between the Czech Republic and Russia after Czechs expelled three Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over a nerve agent attack on an ex-spy.
In a statement published by Russia’s Tass news agency, the Russian embassy in Prague called the step “deeply disappointing.”
“Prague once again preferred the notorious allied solidarity without taking into account all the factors and circumstances of this case,” the embassy’s press secretary Alexei Kolmakov was quoted as saying.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Cannabis-based medicines have shown little evidence of effectiveness for treating most mental health and substance-use disorders, according to a large review of past studies published in a major medical journal on Monday. Medical use of cannabinoids has been expanding, including in the US, Canada and Australia, where many patients report using cannabis products to manage conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems. Researchers reviewed data from 54 randomized clinical trials conducted between 1980 and May last year involving 2,477 participants for their analysis published in The Lancet. The studies assessed cannabinoids as a primary treatment for mental disorders or substance-use
NATIONWIDE BLACKOUT: US President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island’s already antiquated grid Cuba’s national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the nation’s grid operator said, leaving about 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the already obsolete generation system. Grid operator UNE on social media said that it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days and that this weekend sparked a rare violent protest in the communist-run nation. Officials ruled out a major power plant failure, but had still not pinpointed the root cause of the grid collapse, suggesting a problem with transmission. Officials said that
‘HEALTH ISSUE’: More than 250 women are hospitalized every day due to complications from unsafe abortions, and about three die, a study showed Jane had been bleeding heavily for days before finally seeking help, not from a hospital, but from the man who sold her the pills meant to end her six-week pregnancy. Abortions are strictly outlawed in the mainly Catholic Philippines, forcing women to turn to a patchwork of providers operating in the online shadows. While rare in practice, Philippine law allows for prison terms of up to six years for abortion patients and providers, leaving thousands of Filipinas to search for solutions in online forums where unlicensed sellers promote abortifacients. “It was very painful, as if my abdomen was being twisted,” said Jane, whose
RSS