A Canadian man of Kazakh origins arrested as one of four suspects in a massive hack of Yahoo emails will seek to be released on bail, his lawyer said Friday.
Amedeo Dicarlo said the allegations against 22-year-old Karim Baratov are unfounded and said he will fight a push to have his client extradicted to the U.S.
``Our essential goal is to get Mr. Baratov out,'' Dicarlo said ahead of a court hearing in Hamilton in which Baratov was expected to appear by video link.
``This is an attack by the U.S. government, it's a challenge by the U.S. government. We are fighting that challenge,'' he said.
U.S. authorities said this week that Baratov and three others, including two men alleged to be officers of the Russian Federal Security Service, were indicted for computer hacking, economic espionage and other crimes.
Dicarlo said his client is ``healthy'' and ``confident'' but declined to answer questions about Baratov's personal life or profession, describing him only as an ``entrepreneur.''
``I cannot describe what Karim does nor who he is until the time is right,'' he said. Baratov's family is also asking for privacy, he said.
Dicarlo also distanced himself from comments made by another lawyer previously hired by Baratov that suggested the young man was being used as a scapegoat by American authorities.
Dicarlo said a bail hearing has been scheduled for April 5. The next step will be to arrange for an extradition hearing, he added.
Baratov was arrested under the extradition act on Tuesday in the Ontario community of Ancaster.
The three other suspects in the case are Dmitry Aleksandrovich Dokuchaev, 33, Igor Anatolyevich Sushchin, 43, and Alexsey Alexseyevich (Magg) Belan, 29, all Russian nationals and residents. It's not clear whether they will ever step foot in an American courtroom since there's no extradition treaty with Russia
Dokuchaev and Sushchin are said to be Russian intelligence agents who allegedly masterminded and directed the hacking, the U.S. Justice Department has said.