Morocco: On the verge of deportation, a cybercriminal shoots his last card

Sébastien Raoult’s lawyer, a 21-year-old French student Arrested in Morocco The U.S. Justice Department on cybercrime told AFP that it seized the U.N. Committee against Torture on Wednesday over fears he would be extradited to the U.S. immediately. According to M^e Jailer Philippe Ohion announced and translated the deportation order for Sébastien Raoult in his cell on Monday. Moroccan, French and US officials declined to confirm this information to AFP. Morocco’s Court of Cassation issued a “favorable opinion” on Sebastien Raoult’s extradition in August and the final decision on his transfer rests with the Moroccan prime minister.

The 21-year-old former computer science student was arrested on May 31 in Tangier (northern Morocco) on a red notice issued by Interpol at the request of US justice, as he was preparing to board a flight back to France. . He was accused by a US judge of being a member of the Shinehunters, a group of “cybercriminals” suspected by Americans of being behind electronic fraud and abuse, serious identity theft and corporate cyber-attacks.

M^e Ohayon seized on the Committee Against Torture to suspend the transfer, relying on “several extraditions granted by Morocco in recent years” that were blocked by this UN body. “The committee considers that Moroccan law does not allow sufficient control against the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment,” the lawyer told AFP.

M^e “The European Court of Human Rights should have the same position that when a person faces a real life sentence, i.e. until he dies, he cannot be extradited without a diplomatic guarantee of commutation of the sentence,” Ohioan asks the group. he added. “Despite 116 years in prison (in the US), the Moroccan authorities have not asked for these guarantees,” the lawyer insists. In his request, consulted by AFP, Mr.^e Ohioan asks Morocco to suspend Sebastien Raoult’s extradition and release him until the committee makes a decision.

Contacted by the French Foreign Ministry, which did not confirm the existence of this extradition order, the Frenchman “has received five consular visits since his imprisonment, which have been able to ascertain his conditions. Detention, his health. And respect for the rights of the defense”. M^e Ohioan and the student’s father, Paul Raoult, multiplied steps with the French authorities to extradite him to France. No success yet.