The lawyer of a Frenchman held in Morocco and fighting extradition to the United States for alleged hacking told AFP Wednesday he was appealing to a UN body to intervene. Philippe Ohayon, who represents 21-year-old Sebastien Raoult, said a prison guard had shown his client papers suggesting his extradition was imminent.
Ohayon said he had contacted the UN Committee against Torture asking them to oppose any transfer, because the body had blocked several extraditions approved by Morocco in recent years. “The Committee considers that Moroccan law does not allow sufficient control against the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment,” Ohayon said. The prison guard had notified and translated the extradition decree for his client, said the lawyer.
The authorities in France, Morocco and the United States would not confirm this information to AFP, but in August Morocco’s supreme court gave preliminary approval to Raoult’s extradition. The final decision on his fate lies with Morocco’s prime minister.
Raoult was arrested on May 31 in Tangier, in the north of the country, on the basis of a red notice, an arrest warrant issued by Interpol at Washington’s request. He was on the point of boarding a plane to France. The US authorities say Raoult is part of the ShinyHunters group of “cybercriminals”, suspected of having carried out cyberattacks against major companies including Microsoft. Raoult denies the accusation.
Ohayon said his client could face the rest of his life in a US jail if convicted there and on that basis the UN Committee against Torture should intervene. Despite the “116 years” that Raoult could face in a US jail, Rabat had not asked for any guarantees, he added. In his filing, Ohayon also requested that the authorities in Morocco suspend the extradition until the UN committee could declare its position.
