Amanda Todd is shown in this undated handout photo.The Canadian Press
Canadian authorities have agreed to allow the Dutch man accused of extorting B.C. teen Amanda Todd, whose 2012 suicide spurred global efforts to crack down on cyberbullying, to serve his sentence in the Netherlands if he is found guilty at trial in Canada.
Christian van Dijk, the lawyer for the accused – Aydin Coban – confirmed on Sunday that Canada has agreed to allow him to return to the Netherlands to do his time as part of its request to have him extradited to Canada.
A Canadian request for the extradition of Mr. Coban had been widely expected. The extradition treaty between Canada and the Netherlands is a collaborative one and it includes provisions for guarantees from Canada that a Dutch individual sentenced in Canada can do the time back home, Mr. van Dijk said.
But Mr. van Dijk said he doubts whether the commitment to allow Mr. Coban to return to the Netherlands will stand the test of time.
"Well, the guarantee is given only by the minister in Canada now, but the next minister can change his mind. So it is not a real guarantee. It is politics," he said.
"I don't know what will happen in two or three years."
Officials at the Canadian Department of Justice were not available for comment Sunday.
Mr. Coban faces child-pornography production charges in his home country, only in cases involving an alleged Dutch victim.
In 2014, Dutch prosecutors accused him of producing and distributing child pornography, with victims in the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Britain and the United States. One of those alleged victims was Amanda. The authorities dropped international charges of child-pornography production against Mr. Coban last October.
Prosecutors allege that Mr. Coban pressured underage girls and men into performing sexual acts via webcam and then used the images to blackmail his victims for cash.
The RCMP in 2014 announced their own charges against Mr. Coban, including extortion, importing or distributing child pornography, possessing child pornography, luring a child under 18 via computer and criminal harassment.
Mr. Coban will not be available for extradition until after his own court case in the Netherlands is heard.
His trial in the Netherlands is scheduled for the spring.
Amanda took her life after an online image showing the teen exposing her breasts was disseminated among her Facebook friends. A police investigation went cold until Facebook's internal security team traced online threats made against Amanda to a computer router in Oisterwijk, the Netherlands.
Dutch police arrested Mr. Coban at his rented Oisterwijk bungalow in January, 2014, after monitoring Internet activity at his home for several months.
With files from Patrick White, staff