How the extradition process could work in Karim Baratov's case

Karim Baratov's video court appearance Friday marks the beginning of what is expected to be a lengthy process for determining whether Canada will extraditehim to faceU.S. Justice Department charges related to computer hacking, economic espionage and several other offences.

The case involves a data breach that impacted at least a half billion Yahoo accounts.

Baratov was arrested by Toronto Police Service on Tuesday and appeared briefly in court Wednesday.

While courts are determining whether Baratov will be extradited, he's also entitled to apply to be out on bail rather than in custody while that process unfolds.

RobertCurrie, a lawyer and extradition expert at Dalhousie University, told CBCNews he expects the Crown prosecutor in the case to make an argument about Baratov's apparent resourceson the bail question.

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"Often one of the major factors in whether someone is granted bail is how mobile they are," he said.

Some factors that may weigh in: Does the charged person have resources to flee the jurisdiction? Does the suspect have contacts in other places?

Baratov is the youngest of the four men accused. He's the only one who lives outside of Russia, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S.

How extradition works

Just the extradition part of the case could take months to resolve.

Curriesaid the process could take between 18 months and three years.

In order for extradition to be granted, the charges have to be criminal in Canada as well as the country seeking the extradition. And the charges have to carry a minimum sentence of more than one year imprisonment, according to the Canadian Justice Department.

The United States has two months to get all of its documents to Canada in terms of why it is seeking to bring the charged person to court in that country, and then there's a three-stage process overseen by the justice minister on whether to surrender the suspect.

Along the way, the charged person has many options to appeal the extradition.

The Department of Justice declined to comment further. A spokesperson for the RCMP told CBC News that the federal police helped the FBI in its investigation, but extradition is not under RCMP oversight.

'Allegedly a criminal for hire'

Currie saidthat extradition requests in cross-border online crime are becoming more common.

He said the charges against Baratov, which have not been proven in court, open a public window into what's been largely a "shadowy" world of state-sponsored hacking.

"It appears that he's a bit of a free agent, almost a hacking mercenary, who allegedly got into the employ of people in the Russian security service. In terms of Mr. Baratov's involvement, he seems to be allegedly a criminal for hire in that way," Currie said.

"What makes it more interesting, of course, is that he's allegedly hired by individuals working for Russia's security service and in fact, their cyber division."

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca