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Czech Police Arrest Russian Affiliated with U.S. Hacking Attacks | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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An illustration picture shows a projection of binary code on a man holding a laptop computer, in an office in Warsaw June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel


Czech police reportedly taken a wanted Russian man into custody, he is believed to be involved with the recent hacking attacks on targets in the United States, police said, without giving further details on the reasons behind the arrest.

The arrest was carried out in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Czech courts would decide on whether he will be extradited to the United States, police said late on Tuesday.

A U.S. official told Reuters the man was sought in an “older” hacking case and not for recent political hacks in the United States.

The U.S. government this month formally accused Russia for the first time of a campaign of cyber-attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a hacking scandal would not be in Russia’s interests.

A Czech police spokesman identified the man on Wednesday as Yevgeniy N., born in 1987, and said the arrest was made on Oct. 5 on the basis of an Interpol notice.

Video footage released by police showed a man being arrested without resistance in a restaurant of a central Prague hotel. He had dark hair, and wore a hooded sweatshirt with camouflage pattern, blue jeans and sneakers.

Police said the man was briefly hospitalized after collapsing and then put in custody.

Russian news agency TASS said Russia would act to protect its citizen.

“We insist that the detainee is handed over to Russia,” it quoted Andrei Kolmakov, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Prague, as saying. Reuters could not reach Kolmakov for comment.