RIGA, August 12 (RAPSI) - The criminal chamber of the Latvian Supreme Court explained on Monday its decision on extradition to the United States of Deniss Calovskis, who is accused of cyber crime, mixnews.lv reported, citing the court's press office.

The Supreme Court granted the extradition because the US is a democratic state which must respect human rights and guarantee the defendant a fair trial in accordance with the treaties concluded with Latvia.

In January, Calovskis contested the decision to extradite him to the US in the Latvian Supreme Court. Ilona Bulgakova, Calovskis' lawyer, told the court that extradition violated her client's rights. But the court rejected the argument and granted the extradition.

On August 6, the Latvian government decided to extradite Calovskis to the US. But his attorneys thereafter turned to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). On August 8, the ECHR suspended the procedure of extradition.

According to mixnews.lv, Calovskis, 27, who resides in Riga, has been charged with using a Gozi virus to infect over a million computers worldwide, including at NASA. He allegedly worked on the virus together with Russian national Nikita Kuzmin and Romanian national Mihai Ionut Paunescu.

US law enforcement officers arrested Kuzmin during his visit to California in 2010 and persuaded him to cooperate. He helped prosecutors nab the other two men, who were arrested in 2012 in their home countries and are awaiting extradition.