Court ruling means Kim Dotcom can sue NZ spooks
Illegal surveillance on trial
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Kim Dotcom has successfully applied to join New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau as a defendant in his litigation over illegal surveillance of his activities.
Reg readers may recall that the Bureau tapped Dotcom's phones using powers that allow it to spy on foreigners. Dotcom, however, was a permanent resident when the Bureau turned its attentions in his direction, making the surveillance illegal.
The reason for the illegal surveillance was incompetence: the Bureau didn't check on Dotcom's immigration status. That revelation sparked a Prime Ministerial apology and further legal action that yesterday saw Chief High Court Judge Helen Winkelmann decide (PDF) that the plaintiffs, namely Dotcom and his associates, may “... amend their claim, in accordance with the draft pleading filed, to seek declarations about the legality of the GCSB’s actions and to seek damages against the Police and the GCSB.”
Three officers will also be compelled to file affidavits detailing the surveillance conducted on Dotcom.
Dotcom of course took to Twitter to discuss the judgement, issuing the following message:
Lets see about US involvement in illegal GCSB spying on New Zealand residents. The truth will come out, in court.
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 6, 2012
Not long afterwards he threw the switch to weird conspiracy with the following tweet:
Massive rainfall at the Mansion. Spy-Satellites crying about GCSB ruling ;-)
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 6, 2012
The case heads back to court in the second week of December “to resolve any outstanding matters in terms of the judgment, and to address any necessary timetabling in connection with the judgment.” ®
COMMENTS
U.S.A. exposed for what it is ... a lawless country
The U.S. AG Holder has discovered that not all countries have signed on to his "laws be damned" routine that is SOP for that country these days.
And the NZ government, and in particular the judiciary, are to be congratulated on not capitulating to the illegal, heavy handed techniques of the FBI, etc.
Canadians are ong accustomed to the USA treating our country as theirs, we have even had Americans come over the border and arrest and detain people, without the benefit of Canadian court support, and inveigle them back to the USA.
Fortunately, the then Canadian government had the kidnapped party returned to Canada. Wouldn't happen these days with a Conservative government led by a wimp who makes toilet paper look like a tower of strength.
Mind you, if Dot.Com does get his free trip to the US he needn't expect anything less than their citizen Manning got.
NZ Gov will settle to keep all the stuff about the relationship with the US out of the papers.
I think you will find that New Zealand Judges have bigger balls than the ones over here in the UK and will do what is right rather than be told what to do by those in Government.
truth out in court?
Not if the courts are anything like the UK's ones.
They'll just say it's all 'secret squirrel' and any contact with the US is protected under some kind of secret pact with the devil they made in the past.
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