Kazakhstan reviews extradition requests from Russia and the U.S.

According to Deputy Prosecutor General Ulan Bayzhanov, Kazakhstan is going to carefully review requests from Russia and the U.S. which both want the country to extradite Nikita Kislitsyn, head of the network security department in F.A.C.C.T. (formerly Group-IB).

On June 28, 2023, several Russian media outlets reported that Kislitsyn was detained in Kazakhstan, citing the F.A.C.C.T.’s press service. Later, Kazakhstani authorities confirmed that the IT specialist was detained on June 22 due to some accusations related to his previous job as a journalist and independent researcher ten years ago. Currently, Kislitsyn is in custody while law enforcement officials «have been reviewing extradition request from the U.S.» At the same time, Russian authorities claim that they also have some questions for Kislitsyn.

On Wednesday, the Tverskoy court of the city of Moscow approved the arrest of Kislitsyn in absentia since he is accused of getting unauthorized access to sensitive digital information and blackmailing in conjunction with other suspects. On June 27, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia declared him internationally wanted.

«We have detained him just recently. Yes, we received an extradition request from U.S. authorities. The procedure of extradition is going to be implemented through Interpol. Kazakhstan has to know what the individual has been wanted for in another country. We need to have factual allegations. Then, we are going to analyze these documents and see whether these allegations are crimes under our own legislation,» Bayzhanov said.

The same algorithm is going to be applied to a request by Russian authorities, the official highlighted. He also noted that if Kislitsyn applies for asylum, the process may lag behind.

«If Moscow wants him back by all means just to prevent him from being extradited to the U.S., they have to prove his wrongdoing. If he is a Russian citizen who wants to get back to Russia, we, of course, will take this into account. I can’t tell you in advance what decision will be made in the end. We are going to review this case carefully and only after this will make a decision about a possible extradition,» Bayzhanov underlined.

On June 29, in an interview with Russian RIA Novosti, the official said that there is no bias concerning the potential extradition of Kislitsyn, specifically, whether he should be extradited to Russia or the U.S. However, if it is discovered that he holds Russian nationality, this could be a significant factor.”

The company Kislitsyn worked for said that his detention is illegal. The company has already hired lawyers who contacted the Russian consulate general in Almaty. Later, Consul General Evgeniy Bobrov of Russia told RIA Novosti that the consulate asked Kazakhstani authorities not to be rash with the extradition of Kislitsyn to the U.S.

In 2020, the U.S. government accused Kislitsyn of a plot aimed at selling data stolen by another individual from the Formspring social network in 2012. At the time, F.A.C.C.T. said that all these accusations were groundless and Kislitsyn joined the company after the alleged crime had happened. Over the period from 2006 to 2012, Kislitsyn worked as the editor-in-chief of a magazine called Hacker. Since 2013, he’s worked as a researcher of security threats in Group-IB.