Czech President hinders extradition of Russian hacker to US
Czech President Milos Zeman insists on extraditing Russian Evgeny Nikulin, detained in Prague in 2016 at Washington’s request, to Russia rather than the United States, Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan told the publication Aktualne.
"It is true that there have been two meetings this year at which the President asked me to extradite a Russian citizen not to the United States, but to Russia," Pelikan said.
After the publication of the material, right-wing Czech politicians attacked Zeman with criticism of his policies. They argue that "the head of state defends Russia's interests at the expense of national interests and exerts unacceptable pressure on justice."
The presidential administration earlier reported that Zeman received letters from Nikulin’s mother asking for help.
The Russian hacker’s lawyer, Martin Sadilek, said that Nikulin categorically rejects the possibility of extradition to the United States. The defense seeks his extradition to Russia. According to Sadilek, the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic is considering a "appeal against the Supreme Court decision that refused to satisfy his appeal regarding the City Court’s decision on the possibility of his extradition to the United States."
The final decision on Nikulin’s extradition will be determined by the Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic. He can independently determine to which country the accused will be given or decide to stop the process entirely.
Nikulin was detained in Prague in fall 2016 at the request of the United States. He is accused of the hacking breach in 2012-2013 that caused damage to LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring.