PARIS, November 8. /TASS/. Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin, who was detained in France at the end of June, will not challenge the court’s decision to extradite him to the United States, one of his lawyers, Frederic Belo, told TASS.
"Daniil Kasatkin has decided not to appeal. He believes that the investigative chamber was biased against him. He believes that in the current political conditions he has no chance in the Court of Cassation," he said.
Belo said his client insists on his innocence and does not understand the reasons for France's desire to extradite him. "He is waiting for the decision of the French prime minister and counts on the support of his country, Russia, which is his last hope before the uncertainty of extradition to the United States," Belo added.
Kasatkin was detained at the Roissy - Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on June 21 at the request of the United States, which suspects him of complicity in the activities of a hacker network using extortion programs against American companies and federal agencies. The Investigative Chamber of the Court of Appeal, having considered on July 9 a petition for release filed by Belo, detained the athlete, despite such guarantees as living in France and bail.
On October 29, the Paris Court of Appeal approved the US authorities' request for Kasatkin's extradition. Head of the consular department of the Russian embassy in France Alexey Popov told TASS that the decision was expected, given the fact that in the past the Russian had been refused release several times, despite exceeding the established time limits for his detention pending documents from the American side.