No, apparently it’s not just me who’s wondering.
While I’ve been recuperating over the last week, a man has been thrown in jail, his property seized, his bank accounts frozen, and his business shut down—yet no evidence has been filed in a New Zealand court to assert, let alone prove, his guilt.
It seems too that up to 76 NZ police officers were involved in the raids on Mr DotCom’s home and business, “working with four FBI officers and backed by the Armed Offender’s Squad.”
What on earth is going on?
What New Zealand law(s) allows foreign officers of the law (e.g FBI) to operate within our borders like this?
What New Zealand law(s) and/or international treaties allows for an arrest warrant to be issued without any evidence against the accused even being presented to a New Zealand judge?
I’m no fan of copyright theft, of which Mr Kim DotCom and his MegaUpload site is accused, but there was a time when justice demanded that evidence be adduced before incarceration, and guilt be proved before property is seized, businesses are shut down and livelihoods destroyed.
What on earth has happened to our justice system?
I think we should be told.
[Hat tip Willy S.]
10 comments:
I've been saying across several posts that there are many alarming things about how the authorities have acted, and how much power they hold, as demonstrated by this case.
But you want to know what happened to our Justice system. As NBR have shown this morning, Gramsci now rules our Law Commission.
For freedom lovers, the West is becoming, shamefully, a frightening place just now.
There is no law that allows the FBI to operate in New Zealand (i.e. they don't have any powers when here), but I suspect they weren't.
The laws you are primarily looking at are the Extradition Act and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.
A provision arrest warrant will have been issued by a New Zealand Judge, who will have seen the indictment agreed by a Federal Grand Jury and signed off by a Federal Judge (I think, on that last bit). We have a deal with the US where we say: your justice system doesn't suck, if the evidence is enough for a Federal judge to be convinced there's a case, we don't need to be convinced of it separately before getting the ball rolling here.
However, there was never a time when justice demanded that guilt must be proved before an arrest.
"However, there was never a time when justice demanded that guilt must be proved before an arrest."
Yes, I wrote that very poorly.
I shall amend, thank you.
Mark Hubbard is right - these are scary times to be a citizen of the so-called Free World.
I fully agree (except we don't quite see eye to eye on IP), the list of things the authorities have done wrong here is huge. :-s
Probably part payback to the yanks to keep the Hobbit and other future crap filmed in NZ. Corners and deals had to be cut.
Good read: Megaupload: A Lot Less Guilty Than You Think
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/6795
This was read out on Newstalk ZB this morning at around 9:38.
http://content.radionetwork.co.nz/weekondemand/auckland/60930.mp3
Thanks Greg. And thanks Leighton.
Whats driving me insane is that the NZ justice believes that there is no extradition treaty between Germany and the United States and they have used this false statement to keep Kim Dotcom in jail.
"Justice Asher said that because Germany did not have an extradition treaty with the United States, Dotcom would be free from prosecution if he chose to escape to his birth country."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10783378
Here is a link to the treaty that's been in force since 1980 and has been updated several times.
http://internationalextraditionblog.com/2011/04/28/germany-extradition-treaty-with-the-united-states/
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