Russian hacker, wanted by US, tells court he worked for Putin’s party

MOSCOW: A Russian hacker arrested in Spain on a US warrant said he previously worked for President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and feared he would be tortured and killed if extradited, RIA news agency reported.

Peter Levashov was arrested while on holiday in Barcelona in April. US prosecutors later charged him with hacking offences, accusing him of operating a network of tens of thousands of infected computers used by cyber criminals. Levashov’s comments offered a rare glimpse into the relationship between cyber criminals and the Russian state.

US officials say Russian authorities routinely shield hackers from prosecution abroad before recruiting them for espionage work.

Russian hackers have been under intense scrutiny since US intelligence officials accused Moscow of interfering in last year’s US presidential election. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the allegations.

US prosecutors are seeking a 52year jail sentence and Levashov, who denies the charges against him, is fighting his extradition from Spain.

He told a court in Madrid that he had worked for the United Russia party for the last 10 years.

“I collected different information about opposition parties and delivered it to the necessary people at the necessary time,” RIA quoted him as saying.

Levashov provided no further details about his work for the party, RIA reported, though said he was an officer in the Russian army with access to classified information. — Reuters