New Zealand High Court Rules Operation Against Kim Dotcom Was Illegal (torrentfreak.com)

Mashiki writes: The New Zealand High Court ruled that spying against Kim Dotcom was illegal and that the GCSB spy agency violated the law, including the observation of citizens and residents within the country. It was also determined by the courts that the operation had gone on longer than was stated by both the police and GCSB. This may leave the extradition case up in the air since the methods used to gain the information have been ruled illegal. In turn, this makes the arrest illegal, along with the seizure of his equipment illegal. "The GCSB has now admitted that the unlawfulness was not just dependent upon residency issues, it went further," reports NZ Herald. The reason it went further was because it didn't have authorization to carry out the kind of surveillance that it was carrying out under the legislation as it was at that relevant time. The GCSB has said that it was impossible to plead the case as it would jeopardize national security.

Comments

Evidence is in short supply here because USG lies.

[jbn-o]

It feels kinda weird that it's a story about Kimmie and he's NOT the biggest asshole involved...

Do you have evidence of something he did that can compare with what was done to him and his family? Something that can compare to an armed raiding party invading the Dotcom family house at the behest of the US Government and the MPAA, and being lied about?

My suspicion is rooted in how flippant the mainstream media have been throughout this case and how ready the public is to believe what the mainstream media (repeating US Government lies) tell them without following up on the details. I've seen allegations (perhaps charges by now) of Kim Dotcom owning child pornography and an allegation of something to do with "terrorism propaganda" that have yet to be backed up by the prosecutors. After the raid, Kim Dotcom was said to be found holed up in his family house with a loaded gun in a locked "safe room", but the police later admitted he was actually found unarmed in an unlocked safe room. The raid was ostensibly justified because Kim Dotcom might set off some kind of "doomsday device that was in the [Dotcom] mansion somewhere that would, if activated, would destroy evidence of wrongdoing anywhere in the world" (David Fisher, around 57m into the documentary) according to yet there's no evidence such a device exists. Then there's the GCSB (New Zealand's NSA equivalent) illegally spying on Dotcom and Prime Minister Key alleging such illicit spying on New Zealanders is "this is really a matter of mistake and human error not one of conspiracy" (around 1h9m). These are a few examples from the "Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web" documentary which shows the paperwork, names the names of who is involved (including members of the FBI and CIA which were apparently in on this case from the outset) and now we're seeing "The whole New Zealand-based spying operation against Kim Dotcom and his Megaupload co-defendants was illegal, the High Court has ruled". Given that background I see your post which (sans evidence to back up your strong claim of being surprised that "he's NOT the biggest asshole involved") reads more like character assassination or trying to graft an vaguely unpleasant feeling onto his very serious case which Americans ought to be far more concerned about.