Czech court to decide on alleged LinkedIn hacker extradition

A Russian man who faces charges in the United States of hacking and stealing information from computers at LinkedIn, Dropbox and other San Francisco Bay Area companies can be extradited either to the United States or Russia, the state prosecution in Prague said on Wednesday.

Yevgeniy Nikulin, who remained in detention, was arrested in Prague on Oct. 5 after Interpol issued an international warrant. Czech officers cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case.

Moscow wants him extradited on a separate charge of internet theft in 2009.

Spokeswoman Stepanka Zenklova said the Czech prosecution established that both extradition requests are acceptable and Prague's Municipal Court will decide.

A date for an extradition hearing has not been set, but court spokeswoman Marketa Puci said it's a question of days or a week.

Justice Minister Robert Pelikan will have the final say.

Russian officials previously had said they were working to prevent his extradition to the U.S.

Zenklova said Nikulin declined to testify but only stated "if it's up to him, he would prefer extradition to Russia."

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