US wants Russian citizen to be extradited by Finland

The Finnish Ministry of Justice confirmed on Thursday that a Russian citizen had been detained in Finland at the request of the United States.

The man was taken into custody on Aug. 8. The United States must ask for extradition within 45 days of detention, otherwise the suspect will be released.

The Russian man was charged in the United States for fraud related to computers and other charges. A U.S. court ordered him to be arrested.

Ministry of justice official Hannu Taimisto told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that in theory the man could be given over to Russia as well, but in that case he should be guilty of a crime in Russia.

"In that alternative, Finland would have two competing requests for extradition, and there are ways of solving such an issue," Taimisto said.

However, the human rights ombudsman at the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, Konstantin Dolgov, said on Wednesday that the Russian view was that the man should not be extradited to the United States from Finland, according to local reports.