Frenchman Sébastien Raoult, suspected of cybercrime against American companies, has been imprisoned for two months in Morocco. In order to help him, his father sent an open letter to President Emmanuel Macron. “I officially ask you to ensure that no judicial authority, ministerial or foreign, comes to hinder the work of the prosecutors or seeks to influence them in their decisions”writes in particular Paul Raoult, in this letter dated Friday, August 5.
The American authorities are demanding in Morocco the extradition of Sébastien Raoult, a 21-year-old student from Epinal, for his alleged involvement in a case of cybercrime targeting companies, Americans in particular. According The Obs, which revealed the case, Microsoft would be part of it. The student has been imprisoned since June 2 in Tiflet 2 prison, near Rabat. He would face a 116-year prison sentence in the United States if he were found guilty of the charges against him, according to his lawyer Philippe Ohayon.
“Diplomacy, international relations or the risk of offending a foreign power should not prevail over the decision of a judge”, considers the father of the family in this missive sent to the Elysée and shared on his Facebook account. He also claims that a “Investigation was carried out in France under letters rogatory from a French judge, in the context of an American request for international assistance”saying to himself “worried about the fact that the United States may interfere in a French investigation”.
At the same time, Philippe Ohayon asked the Epinal prosecution to open an investigation into the facts attributed to Sébastien Raoult, who previously resided in the Vosges. “We want an investigation to be opened which will undoubtedly lead to an extradition request”, his father hopes today. After a first refusal, the Epinal prosecutor confirmed to AFP on Tuesday evening that he had received new elements from the lawyer which “will also be studied”.
Also questioned by the young man’s father, the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, explained on Wednesday that his ministry had not “not the possibility” to intervene “at this stage” in that case. “Moroccan justice is a sovereign and independent justice”he argued, agreeing however that the case “concerns us since he is an extremely young French national who incurs in the United States (…) very heavy prison sentences”.