Kim Dotcom extradition appeal against extradition to the United States has been thrown out of court in New Zealand.
The New Zealand High Court has upheld an the earlier decision stating that there was enough evidence to extradite Dotcom, to the U.S. on racketeering and criminal copyright charges.
Dotcom appealed an earlier district court ruling that he should be extradited to the USA.
His lawyer Mr Ron Mansfield stated that “Whether Kim has committed an offence under New Zealand copyright law has finally now been answered in his favour; he has not,”
Justice Murray Gilbert of the High Court of New Zealand ruled that while he agreed with one of Dotcom’s attorneys’ primary arguments—”that online communication of copyright protected works to the public is not a criminal offence in New Zealand”—the judge noted that nevertheless, Dotcom and his co-defendants remain eligible for extradition based on other elements in the case.
“Wilful infringement of copyright can properly be characterised as a dishonest act,” Justice Gilbert wrote. “Such infringement deprives the copyright holder of something to which it may be entitled.”
“The conduct alleged in count 2 therefore constitutes the offence of conspiracy to defraud in terms of art II.16,” he concluded, referring to a particular section of the extradition treaty between New Zealand and the United States that stipulates under what formal criminal allegations extradition “shall be granted.”
However, it will likely be years before the case is fully resolved. In a statement published shortly after the ruling, Ron Mansfield, Dotcom’s top New Zealand lawyer and our attorneys, indicated that the case would be appealed to another court, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand. The case potentially could be appealed one step further, to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
After the High Court ruling, on Twitter, Dotcom trumpeted Justice Gilbert’s concession, proclaiming that his side had “won,” and compared New Zealand’s legal system to “Sharia law.”
lets see how this pans out.
Full article located – https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/new-zealand-appeals-court-upholds-kim-dotcom-extradition-ruling/
