Today at the Court of Appeal, Kim Dotcom won the right to sue the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand for their illegal spying on Mr Dotcom during the investigation into his company Megaupload. What hasn’t been made clear though is whether any of the evidence against Dotcom or his associate, Bram van der Kolk, one of the co-founders of Megaupload has to made available to lawyers.
The decision, which was released today, dismisses the appeal by the attorney-general of a High Court ruling last year which found that the GCSB should be involved in the case. The GCSB had already be found to be in the wrong when it came to the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom, due to the fact that it is illegal in New Zealand for the government spying agency to spy on a permanent resident of that country. The GCSB later admitted that they acted illegally when they intercepted Dotcom’s communications. This even prompted a public apology from the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who had previously stated that he was unaware of who Dotcom was.
“I apologise to Mr Dotcom, I apologise to New Zealanders because every New Zealander that sits within the category of having permanent residency or is a New Zealand citizen is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him.”
Below is a video PM John Key was grilled in parliament by Dr Russel Norman (Co-Leader of the Green Party) as well as by David Shearer (Labour Leader) regarding John Key’s suspected prior knowledge of Kim Dotcom as well as GCSB’s illegal spying of a known NZ resident. Mr Shearer’s questions were mainly aimed at determining Key’s prior knowledge of Kim Dotcom, and even produced a blown up image of the huge firework’s display that Kim Dotcom put on for New Zealanders back in 2010 at a cost of NZ$500,000 which was the biggest display in the history of New Zealand.
Back in November 2012 during an interview with the New Zealand Herald, Kim Dotcom stated that he already had proof that PM John Key lied when he said that he had never heard of Kim Dotcom until a day before the raids on the Dotcom mansion back in January.
I [Dotcom] know for a fact that John Key knew before January 19, and it’s going to be a topic in our court hearing, so I don’t want to reveal too much, but I know. And for him not to be upfront and honest about, to me, there’s really only one reason, and that’s the political interference element that could stop the whole extradition procedure. If we can show that the government he has had an active role in the magnitude of this whole case and had a proactive role rather than a reactive role to impress the United States Government, well, you know, there you have it. It’s a monster issue.
The interview, which is in two parts is available below
- Paul Holmes interviews Kim Dotcom – Part One (10:29)
- Paul Holmes interviews Kim Dotcom – Part Two (13:10)
I bet the New Zealand government rue the day they got in bed with the US & Hollywood.