Since July of 2022, DataBreaches has been reporting on the case of Sébastien Raoult, a young French national detained in Morocco on an Interpol Red Notice requested by the U.S. for alleged involvement in ShinyHunters. Yesterday, Morocco’s Court of Cassation notified Raoult that they signed the order for his extradition to the U.S.
According to Paul Raoult, Sebastien’s father, the extradition could occur at any time between now and a month from now.
Since his detention, Raoult, represented by Philippe Ohayon, had fought the U.S. extradition request on multiple grounds, not the least of which is that since his alleged crimes took place while he was on French soil and was a French national, he should be charged and then extradited to France to stand trial in France. France, however, claimed that they had no investigation of him and no basis for opening a case or seeking his extradition to France. Their refusal seemed shocking, at best, as the same day that Raoult was detained in Morocco as he attempted to fly home, others who were also accused of involvement in ShinyHunters, some of whom were indicted with him, were arrested in France, questioned, and then released. Past coverage on DataBreaches can be found linked here.
So why should one member of an alleged conspiracy be extradited to the U.S. while other members are not even being prosecuted in France? And why should that one be facing extraordinarily long sentences while others remain free? Why has France cooperated with the U.S. on this one national while not even prosecuting the others — at least two of whom have previous criminal histories and likely more involvement in crimes?
Raoult’s father tells DataBreaches that they are considering what else they might do at this point to try to prevent his extradition to the U.S., but as things stand now, Sebastien Raoult will be forced to defend himself in a foreign language and a foreign land.