Kim Dotcom claims victory even as court rules he can be ‘surrendered to the US’
Court says internet entrepreneur did not commit a copyright offence under New Zealand law, but is eligible for extradition from the South Pacific nation
Wellington — Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom claimed a "major victory" in his long-running battle to avoid extradition to the US even as another New Zealand court ruled he is eligible for removal from the South Pacific nation. The High Court said on Monday that Dotcom and his co-accused, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato, are "eligible for surrender to the US," upholding a District Court ruling from December 2015. But the court found in favour of the appellants on the issue of copyright infringement, saying they had not committed an offence under New Zealand law. Rather, they were eligible for extradition on the grounds of conspiracy to defraud. "I told you I can’t be extradited for copyright and I was right," Dotcom tweeted after the ruling. "I’ll be watching as the legal profession dissects this extradition judgment in a copyright case that is no longer a copyright case." The US is seeking Dotcom’s extradition from New Zealand over his now defunct file-sharing we...
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