TEMPO.CO, Moscow - Russia accused the United States of violating a bilateral treaty and "kidnapping" a Russian, Roman Valerevich Seleznev, who was accused of hacking into US retailers' computer systems to steal credit card data.
The US Department of Homeland Security arrested Seleznev, the son of a Russian lawmaker, on Juy 5, 2014, for what it said were crimes carried out from 2009 to 2011. Seleznev was arrested in an airport in the Maldives.
Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that the arrest as the latest unfriendly move from Washington. "This is not the first time the US side, ignoring a bilateral treaty ... on mutual assistance in criminal matters, has gone ahead with what amounts to the kidnapping of a Russian citizen," the statement reads.
Seleznev was indicted in Washington on March 2011 for charges including bank fraud, causing damage to a protected computer, obtaining information from a protected computer and aggravated identity theft, the US agency said in a statement. The indictment stated that Seleznev hacked into websites ranging from those run by the Phoenix Zoo, a branch of Schlotzsky's Deli and many other small restaurants and entertainment venues around the country.
Relations between Russia and the United States are at a low point since Vladimir Putin was re-elected for his third term as the Russian president.
REUTERS | INDAH P