Karim Baratov, alleged Yahoo hacker, to fight extradition in September

Accused Yahoo hacker Karim Baratov has decided to fight extradition to the U.S.

He is scheduled for a hearing on Sept. 8, in Hamilton. At the same time, his lawyer, Amedeo DiCarlo, says he is continuing to negotiate behind the scenes to possibly waive the extradition hearing and move on to fight the charges in the U.S. directly. 

U.S. authorities allege Baratov, from suburban Ancaster, Ont., was a "hacker-for-hire" with Russian ties. But Canada would have to surrender Baratov to the U.S. for him to face charges there. DiCarlo said in court Wednesday his client will go ahead with the September hearing on that matter. 

DiCarlo spoke with reporters before and after Baratov appeared in a Hamilton court on Wednesday morning. He said talks with U.S. officials have been moving slower than he'd like, and so he's going ahead with the extradition hearing.

"My priority is here. Karim (Baratov) is in custody," DiCarlo said. "His legal rights are here. And that's where I'm going to focus."

Baratov was arrested March 14 in Hamilton under the Extradition Act after U.S. authorities indicted him and three others for computer hacking, economic espionage and other crimes.

Baratov has been held without bail since his arrest after an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled in April that the 22-year-old man was too much of a flight risk to be released prior to an extradition hearing.

DiCarlo said he has been meeting with U.S. justice officials in Washington and Los Angeles and a New York lawyer who has been assisting on the case.

"Karim wants out, and he wants this closed," DiCarlo said.

American authorities alleged in court documents that Baratov, who was born in Kazakhstan, posed an "extremely high flight risk" in part due to his alleged ties to Russian intelligence agents and his financial resources.

The ruling that denied Baratov bail was upheld by Ontario's appeal court on June 9.

Yahoo said last September that information from at least 500 million user accounts had been stolen in a cyberattack two years earlier. Baratov is accused of hacking 80 Yahoo accounts and faces 20 years in prison in the U.S. if convicted.