Russian parliament urges Foreign Ministry to react firmly to extradition of Russians to US
Mikhail Degtyaryov, head of the State Duma committee on physical culture, sport, tourism and youth affairs, has officially requested information from the Russian Foreign Ministry on the measures taken to ensure the security of Russian nationals abroad, reported RBC news agency with reference to the parliamentary press service.
Degtyaryov believes that “recently cases of the extraterritorial application of US laws have become more frequent”. “Among the recent examples is the Spanish police’s extradition of the Russian programmer Pyotr Levashov to the US law enforcement authorities. In this case Russia also contacted Spain with a request for his extradition,” the MP explained.
In addition, Degtyaryov pointed out that the US Justice Department charged 13 Russians and three legal companies with alleged interference in US presidential elections. “The situation’s development could lead to any user of a computer connected to the internet potentially being declared a hacker, and participation in political discussions under any nickname being declared a crime… In this regard, we cannot rule out the threat of the criminal prosecution and extradition to the US of Russian tourists visiting NATO countries and other countries in America’s sphere of influence,” Degtyaryov remarked.
The MP said that the Russian authorities must take a tougher stance with countries that extradite Russian citizens to the US. “Perhaps Russia should officially warn Spain and other states that if such outrageous incidents are repeated, they will be deprived of Russian tourists,” he suggested.
On February 15, the US charged Russian citizens Dmitry Smilyanets and Vladimir Drinkman with cyber crimes and the theft of official information. According to the investigation, between 2005 and 2012, together with three Russians and one Ukrainian, they hacked the computer networks of more than 16 companies and stole roughly 160 million credit card numbers. Drinkman was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment, Smilyanets to four years and four months.
Pyotr Levashov is currently in a prison in the State of New York. He was arrested in Spain in April 2017, after which he was extradited to the US. The Spanish Interior Ministry believes that the Russian was in control of the Kelihos botnet, which he used to steal private user data and distribute spam and extortion viruses. Levashov has pleaded not guilty.