WASHINGTON, July 16 (RAPSI) – Seleznev will be afforded all consular access, said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, adding the Seleznev case is a law enforcement matter that has nothing to do with the latest tensions between Russia and the US.

Moscow-born Roman Seleznev, 30, the son of Liberal Democratic Party State Duma deputy Valery Seleznev, has been charged with hacking into retail cash register systems to install malicious software to steal credit card numbers and with operating servers and international carding forum websites to facilitate the theft and sale of stolen credit card data. He was arrested on the Maldive Islands and taken to Guam, an unincorporated US territory in the western Pacific, for an initial court hearing on July 22.

Seleznev has denied all charges. If he is convicted, he could spend up to 30 years in prison and could be fined up to $3 million.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Roman Seleznev’s arrest outside the United States and his transfer to the US was “an unfriendly move” and kidnapping.

Valery Seleznev is worried that his son, who received a serious brain injury after a terrorist attack in Morocco in 2011, could die in custody if denied medical care.

“This is a case being overseen by the Department of Justice. I don’t have anything specific for you in terms of his transit. Obviously, Guam is a territory of the United States and he’ll be afforded all consular access as is accorded by the Vienna Convention,” said Jen Psaki.

When asked what the US would say if the Russian secret service started capturing US citizens in third countries and shipping them to Russia, Jen Psaki said: “This was a law enforcement action. It was based solely on law enforcement considerations.”

“The indictment in this case was returned more than three years ago and thus predates (…) any current issues or current disagreements between Russia and the United States,” Psaki said.