Russian National Nikulin's Lawyer Asks To Withdraw As Trial Counsel - Court Document

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th June, 2019) Russian national Yevgeniy Nikulin's attorney asked a US judge to allow his law firm to withdraw from the case, a court document revealed.

"I served the Defendant Mr. Nikulin with the motion to withdraw as trial counsel and accompanying papers by certified first-class mail on June 25, 2019... I respectfully request that the Court permit my firm to withdraw as Defendant's trial counsel," attorney Arkady Bukh said in a document filed at a US court in California on Tuesday.

Last week, Bukh told Sputnik that there was a possibility that during the next hearing on July 16 the judge may order the defense's departure due to a fundamental disagreement over the client's mental condition.

Bukh in the court document argued that he believed Nikulin was unfit to stand trial despite a US government assessment to the contrary.

Nikulin was arrested in October 2016 in the Czech Republic and extradited to the United States, where he is accused of hacking into computers belonging to LinkedIn, Dropbox and the Formspring online services. Russian authorities, who charged Nikulin with internet fraud in 2009, requested his extradition on the same day as the United States, but the Czech Justice Ministry granted the US request.