MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – A lawyer for alleged Russian hacker Roman Seleznev taken to Guam from the Maldives by US agents denied reports Friday that a hearing in the case would take place on July 29.
On Thursday, the court requested that the defense and the prosecution both file briefs regarding a "Threshold Challenge" to determine if the court did in fact have jurisdiction to proceed further on the case and continue with removal hearings which would see Seleznev most likely remanded to the custody of the US Federal Court in Seattle, Washington.
After working late into the night the defense team formulated the proper legal filings, which were delivered to the court on Friday morning.
When asked to speculate over the fact that the judge was proceeding in a serious manner regarding the case rather than just fast-tracking some order through the court and sending Seleznev to the mainland United States, lawyer Ely Goldin could not say it was a positive sign or not, but that the arguments in his words had "piqued the intellectual curiosity" of the judge.
As for the next hearing, according to the clerk of the court who verified that the all of the briefs had been officially received, the lawyers would be called on Monday with a possible date, which may be as early as Tuesday and possibly later than the first week of August.
When asked about the condition of Seleznev, the lawyer said he is still in the prison infirmary and is apparently being treated relatively well considering the circumstances he is under.
Seleznev has apparently had no negative reaction to the American analogue of the medication that he is taking for the injuries he received in a terrorist attack in Morrocco in 2011.
A 30-year-old Russian citizen, Roman Seleznev was arrested on July 5, in an airport in the Maldives. Seleznev was taken to the US island of Guam.
US authorities accused Seleznev of hacking into point-of-sale systems at a number of US shops to steal credit card data from customers. The Russian citizen faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of bank fraud, while the other charges also carry significant sentences.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the incident an unfriendly move by the US and a de facto kidnapping.
