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Spanish court approves extradition of Russian national to US

Pyotr Levashov is charged with creating "a global cyber infrastructure through which he committed numerous unlawful acts," the Spanish national police said

MADRID, October 3. /TASS/. Spanish court has agreed to extradite detained Russian Pyotr Levashov to the US, the Spanish national judiciary board said in its press release that TASS has at its disposal.

The document says that the court "agreed to extradite Russian citizen Pyotr Levashov to the United States."

He was detained in Barcelona this past April at Washington’s request. The Russian is charged with creating "a global cyber infrastructure through which he committed numerous unlawful acts," the Spanish national police said. The operation was carried out in coordination with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The US Department of Justice earlier declared liquidation of the Kelihos network of infected computers controlled by hackers who were conducting harmful activities through it, including data collection and spamming. Levashov is accused of involvement in this network.

Hackers infected computers running Microsoft Windows and could collect any information about their owners and other people by intercepting data flows.

Russia also requested Levashov’s extradition earlier. The Russian citizen’s lawyers requested his case to be studied by Spanish court. The lawyers explained that if Spain’s Justice Ministry satisfies Russia’s request, the procedure in the US will be suspended, and then Spain will decide what procedure should continue. Levashov’s lawyers also pointed out to "political motives" in the case against Levashov whose extradition is sought by as many as two states.

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