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Latvian hacker prepared to turn to EU Court of Human Rights in regard to U.S. request for his extradition

BC, Riga, 09.04.2013.Print version
Cyber-crime suspect from Riga Deniss Calovskis has turned to the European Court of Human Rights with a petition against the request from the United States for his extradition, LETA was informed by attorney Saulvedis Varpins.

The attorney said that according to announcements made by U.S. officials in the past, cyber-crimes in the country have been put on equal level with terrorism. In such cases, when national security is threatened, the U.S. can engage in physical and psychological torture against suspects in the name of national security.

 

Varpins said that in this case Calovskis is being accused of participating in the creation of a computer virus, which leads to concern that he U.S. law enforcement institutions could torture him to obtain more information on possible accomplices.

 

Taking into account all of the above, Latvia must first receive guarantees from the United States that Calovskis will not be physically or psychologically influenced, the attorney told LETA, adding that since such a guarantee has not been received from the United States, extradition cannot be allowed.

 

As reported, the Latvian Supreme Court ruled on January 31 that Calovskis, accused by the United States of cyber-theft, should be extradited to the U.S. for prosecution.

 

The ruling cannot be appealed, but the final decision on Calovskis' extradition is to be made by the Cabinet of Ministers. If the government decides to extradite, he could face a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison in the United States.

 

Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (Reform Party) previously said that he believes that there is no reason for Latvia to extradite Calovskis. The minister believes that extradition of Latvian citizens to other countries should only be considered if there are sufficient reasons justifying this. Based on the available information, he should not be extradited, believes Rinkevics.

 

LETA also reported, U.S. law enforcement have announced charges against three alleged East European cyber thieves accused of stealing banking information from computers across Europe and the United States, including Calovskis, a resident of Latvia.

 

The alleged international cyber criminals were responsible for creating and distributing a computer virus that infected over one million computers – at least 40,000 of which were in the United States – and caused millions in losses by, among other things, stealing online banking credentials, the federal prosecutor's office in Manhattan said.

 

The defendants allegedly used a malicious computer code or malware dubbed the "Gozi Virus" to hack into bank accounts and "steal millions of dollars," stated the indictment against Calovskis, also known as "Miami", who was arrested in Latvia.

 

Prosecutors say the scam unfolded between 2005 and March 2012 and that the virus was "virtually undetectable in the computers it infected." First, it was implanted in computers across Europe "on a vast scale," then around 2010 it spread to the United States, the Calovskis indictment said.






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