MOSCOW, September 30 (RAPSI) - Latvian officials intend to appeal a ruling of the European Court for Human Rights’ Grand Chamber that suspended the extradition of alleged hacker Deniss Calovskis to the US, RIA Novosti reports Tuesday citing the Latvian government’s press service.
The appeal will be filed with the ECHR by October 24, 2014. Calovskis’ lawyer, Ilona Bulgakova, says the Latvian government will not succeed in granting her client’s extradition to the US.
Calovskis, 28, is suspected of creating and distributing Gozi, a virus that infected over one million computers around the world. If tried in the US, the alleged hacker, who denies the charges, may face a long prison term.
In 2013, the Latvian government ruled to extradite Calovskis to the US. However, the ECHR blocked the decision by imposing a temporary ban on the extradition. The ECHR President ruled against the programmer’s extradition before his case is heard in Strasbourg.
Calovskis’ lawyers filed a motion with the Latvian Prosecutor General’s Office on his release in August 2013. The next month, the Riga Central District Court refused to release Calovskis from custody, but in November, after 11 months in detention, he was released.