A New
Zealand judge on Friday ordered police to return any digital material seized in
an armed raid on Internet mogul Kim Dotcom's mansion last year not directly
related to the prosecution against him.
Channel News Asia – AFP, 31 May 2013
 |
| The Auckland mansion of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, January 20, 2013. (AFP/Michael Bradley) |
WELLINGTON:
A New Zealand judge on Friday ordered police to return any digital material
seized in an armed raid on Internet mogul Kim Dotcom's mansion last year not
directly related to the prosecution against him.
The
decision by High Court chief judge Helen Winkelmann follows a ruling last year
that the January 2012 raid on Dotcom's Auckland mansion was illegal because the
search warrants used were too broad to be considered reasonable.
Digital
material such as computer hard drives were taken in the dawn swoop as part of a
US probe into allegations of massive online piracy by Dotcom's now-defunct
Megaupload empire.
Winkelmann
ordered police to review all the material, at their own expense, to identify
material that was irrelevant to the prosecution case, then return it to Dotcom.
She
rejected the argument that the police had committed only a technical breach of
the law and should not have to sift the material for irrelevant data, which
they said would be a lengthy and expensive exercise.
"The
deficiencies in the warrants and, as a consequence, the searches, were more
than merely technical," she said.
"The
defects in the warrants were such that the warrants were nullities. The
plaintiffs are entitled to relief."
She also
said the police must provide Dotcom with clones of material that had already
been sent to the FBI.
Dotcom's
US-based lawyer Ira Rothkin tweeted that his legal team was analysing the
decision.
US
authorities allege Megaupload and related file-sharing sites netted more than
US$175 million and cost copyright owners more than US$500 million by offering
pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.
The US
Justice Department and FBI want Dotcom to face charges of racketeering, fraud,
money-laundering and copyright theft in a US court, which could see him jailed
for up to 20 years.
Dotcom and
his three co-accused deny any wrongdoing and are free on bail in New Zealand
ahead of an extradition proceeding scheduled for August.
- AFP/fl
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