The Czech Republic’s Minister of Justice Robert Pelikan, who is to decide between competing Russian and US extradition requests for alleged Russian hacker Yevgeny Nikulin, has said that he will base his decision on where the most serious crimes were committed. Speaking to Czech legislators, he also said he would take into account which request was made first.
Both of these factors appear to work in the favour of the US, which accuses Nikulin of more serious crimes and made its extradition request before Russia. The US accuses him of hacking into file-hosting site Dropbox and social networks LinkedIn and Formspring in 2012-13, whereas Russia suspects him of involvement in a $2,000 electronic theft in 2009. He has argued that he would not receive a fair trial in the US.
Mr Pelikan has said that the Czech Republic’s president Milos Zeman asked him to export Nikulin to Russia “repeatedly and vehemently”, but that he was not swayed by the request.
Categories: Czech Republic, Russia, United States
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