Czech Republic extradites alleged Russian hacker to US

PRAGUE, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Russian citizen Yevgeniy Nikulin accused of hacking into American social networks like LinkedIn, Dropbox and others has been finally extradited to the United States by special board of the U.S. Justice Department, Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan confirmed on Friday.

Pelikan added that the move took place on Thursday night.

The 30-year-old Nikulin, who had been detained in Prague's prison under the international arrest warrant from Washington since 2016, is accused by the court of the state of California in organizing hacker attacks in 2012 and 2013 on American social network websites and other facilities.

Russia also issued an arrest warrant for Nikulin's online theft of finances in 2009. The Russian side officially asked the Czech Justice Ministry for Nikulin's extradition with a request issued on November 16, 2016, and based on an arrest warrant from November 10, 2016.

Later on Friday, Pelikan said that the U.S. request seemed to him more reasonable, so it was "an easy decision made long ago".

Czech President Milos Zeman's spokesman Jiri Ovcacek, described the move as "offbeat".

Zeman, as Pelican said in February 2018, had also asked the minister to send Nikulin to Russia.

Nikulin has denied the allegation that he is a hacker, arguing that it is only based on the claims of U.S. Federal Bureau of Intelligence agents. Enditem