Spanish officials have announced the arrest of a Russian computer programmer wanted by the United States on hacking allegations while a decision is made on whether to extradite him.
The National Court said on Thursday that Stanislav Lisov, 31, was jailed on January 13 after Civil Guard police arrested him at Barcelona airport on an FBI warrant issued though Interpol.
The court said a Madrid judge questioned him by videoconference over charges of criminal conspiracy in connection with electronic and computer fraud for which he is wanted by the US.
It said he was ordered jailed because of the seriousness of the offenses and the risk of him fleeing justice as he had done previously in the United States.
Lisov was arrested as he prepared to take a flight out of Spain with his wife.
Darya Lisova, wife of the arrested programmer, told the state-controlled Russia Today television station: "We were detained at the airport in Barcelona when we came to return a rented car before flying out to Lyon to continue our trip and visit friends."
She added: "We've already had two lawyers. The first could not cope with the responsibilities, so we hired a second. He is now familiarizing himself with the case. So far, we have not been able to figure out what exactly they suspect him of doing."
Russia hacking allegations
The arrest comes at a time when tensions between the US and Russia have skyrocketed after accusations that Russia carried out a cyber-attack campaign against Democratic Party groups before the November 8 presidential election.
A declassified report released in early January by US intelligence officials said Russian president Vladimir Putin "ordered" a campaign to influence the 2016 US presidential election.
OPINION: The Kremlin and the US election
The 25-page public version of the report was released on Friday after the officials briefed President-elect Donald Trump and top lawmakers on Capitol Hill on a longer, classified version.
The report said Russian efforts to meddle in vote represent the most recent expression of Moscow's long-standing desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order.
It also noted that the scope of Russia's activities was significantly larger compared with previous operations.
US president-elect Donald Trump subsequently said that hacking by foreign powers did not affect the final outcome of the November presidential election, after being briefed on the intelligence report.
