Kim Dotcom faces revocation of bail bad jail

Before the election I wrote a piece that at the time may have seemed pessimistic, entitled New Zealanders sleepwalking into fascism.

New Zealanders sleepwalk into fascism

All my most pessimistic predictions, it seems, are coming to pass.

This is showing in the treatment of the State of Nicky Hager (subject to a 10-hour police raid) and Kim Dotcom. 

The situation of Kim Dotcom has deteriorated in recent days with him being under threat of deportation and with the defection of his New Zealand legal team.

You do not have to scratch very far beneath the surface to see the hand of  Empire - the New Zealand state acting in tandem with the US government in tandem with Hollywood (that has practically written some of the provisions of the TPPA for their own benefit).

Because he has made trouble for Key and his clique revenge is being taken.  I can imagine the order going out -  "Just find something on this guy!" And they did - he neglected to mention a speeding conviction, so now he is threatened with losing his citizenship and being throw out of the country (because of a speeding ticket, for f...k sake!)

And now his legal team has not only abandoned him but removed any mention of their involvement with him.  Is anyone going to tell me that there hasn't been political pressure from the top?!

It seems that it is all sinking in for Kim Dotcom as he invokes Aaron Swartz, a martyr for the truth, if ever there was one.

Kim Dotcom

@KimDotcom

I understand Aaron now. They are monsters. They put him in a cold, dark & hopeless place. He escaped to find peace. I hope he did. @Lessig

This whole sorry affair has not been at the centre of my attention (or, indeed NZ politics as a whole).  But what disgusts me more than anything is that I have found all this by accident - nobody here, including all the people on social media that love to comment. 

While Nicky Hager has been to some extent embraced by some of the Left (except for journalists who seem quite happy with a fellow journalist being targeted by the State), Kim Dotcom seems to have been dropped (and I would say, betrayed) by many on the Left who blame him for the loss of the election All this instead of seeing things for what they 
are; this is what the Right wanted to achieve - and this is what always happens when criminal fascists seize power.

I say that this country collectively deserves everything that comes its way.  With Nicky Hager Kim Dotcom, Internet and those that came to their aid from overseas (Greenwald, Snowden, Assange and Amsterdam) they were offered a chance to get rid of this government - and they blew it.

Now the public of New Zealand seem quite happy to serve up Dotcom on a platter to the American mincer.

The above people deserve plaudits (despite some bad tactical errors that pale into insignificance in comparison with the betrayal of Hone Harewira by the mainstream Opposition.

As all this unfolds, all I can say is "Heaven help us!" 

---Seemoreocks

DOTCOM FACES JAIL FOLLOWING APPLICATION TO REVOKE BAIL

Torrent Freak,

13 November, 2014

Kim Dotcom's predicament worsened today when a prosecutor revealed that a bail revocation application is underway which could put back behind bars as early as next week. In the meantime Dotcom is being restricted on land, sea and air.

After putting up a grand fight for what will soon be three years, the last couple of weeks have certainly thrown Kim Dotcom an unusual number of serious curve ball.

Last week it was revealed that his New Zealand legal team had backed out of their arrangement to defend the Megaupload founder.

High-profile Queen’s Counsel Paul Davison, QC, and Simpson Grierson, one of New Zealand’s biggest lawfirms, decided to pull out, a decision that could prove pivotal in the entrepreneur getting a fair trial.

It’s also transpires that lawyer Fletcher Pilditch, who was defending Dotcom colleague Finn Batato, has also withdrawn his services from the case.

And back in the Auckland District Court today, things got even worse.

A full report on developments isn’t possible due to a news blackout, but Crown Prosecutor Christine Gordon told the Court that an application had been made to have Dotcom’s bail revoked after an apparent breach of conditions.

That application, the details of which are shrouded in secrecy, will be heard next Monday. Should it be granted, Dotcom could soon be back behind bars in New Zealand.

In the meantime, apparently considering him a flight risk, Judge Nevin Dawson has taken the decision to clamp down on Dotcom’s movements ahead of next week’s hearing.

In addition to banning him from using his helicopter, Dotcom is forbidden from using boats and undertaking any travel whatsoever by sea. He must stay within 80km (50 miles) of his home and report to police every single day, rather than his previous weekly check-ins.

The development is yet another obstacle for Dotcom ahead of his looming 2015 extradition battle. The withdrawal of Paul Davison QC and Simson Grier was revealed today to be the decision of the lawyers, not Dotcom, with the former informing the Court that there was no intention to disrupt the case.

Nevertheless, that is the immediate effect. While Dotcom and legal team chief Ira Rothken say they are in talks with other lawfirms. the scale of the case means this is no ordinary problem and one that might even prove impossible to overcome.

“Suffice to say that even over the last few days, we have spoken to some of the other top firms in New Zealand,” Rothken said.

“We’ve also spoken to some QCs. It’s a very difficult situation in the sense that these firms will have to look through about 100 meters of legacy files.”

One interested firm said it would need 120 days just to look over the case to see they can help, a serious problem when the extradition hearing is scheduled for February and has taken 18 months to prepare.

Today the Crown said it was prepared to give Dotcom an extra month by postponing the hearing until March, but that was overruled by the Judge who said that it would now take place in early June.

This morning Dotcom said he will not be giving up.

“This year was a total disaster. I have taken many punches. But I won’t break. I will keep going through this hell for my kids. Count on it,” Dotcom said.

DOTCOM LOSES LAWYERS – THEN THEY ERASE ALL HISTORY OF HIM

Torrent Freak,
13 November, 2014



Kim Dotcom is looking for a new legal team in New Zealand after a high-profile lawfirm withdrew its services. However, what's especially unusual is that Simpson Grierson has not only pulled out, but is also removing all references to Dotcom and Mega from its corporate site.

All major Internet entrepreneurs with complex lives need legal advice. That is especially true for Kim Dotcom, who needs clerks just to keep up with the mountains of paperwork generated by his myriad legal issues.

Currently the Megaupload founder is dealing with legal action in three major jurisdictions – the United States, Hong Kong and New Zealand. In the former matters are handled by lawyer Ira Rothken, a veteran of copyright cases who also runs Dotcom’s worldwide legal operations. In the latter, however, Dotcom now has new issues to overcome.

The first signs of developments in New Zealand came on November 6 when Rothken tweeted, “We are looking for awesome lawyers in NZ and US to assist our global legal team in the @KimDotcom related cases.” Rothken also linked interested parties to a new site titled MegaScholar.

Now, almost a week later, it’s been revealed that high-profile Queen’s Counsel Paul Davison, QC, and Simpson Grierson, one of New Zealand’s biggest lawfirms, are stepping down from Dotcom’s legal team.

“Paul Davison & Simpson Grierson of NZ are stepping down from @KimDotcom legal team. They did world-class legal work & were great colleagues,” Rothken

tweeted.

Davison has been representing Dotcom in his U.S. extradition case and various Simpson Grierson partners including William Akel and Tracey Walker have represented the entrepreneur in civil actions brought by the Hollywood studios.

While Rothken has made it clear that he was pleased with the work of the outgoing legal team, there is a rather unusual element to the story. When we searched the Simpson Grierson website for the history of the Dotcom case, it appears that the company has erased it, an unusual move for such a high-profile action.

And it doesn’t stop there. Senior litigation partner William Akel has removed all reference to Dotcom from his case history. The image below shows his profile, before and after, with Dotcom’s case now erased.

Partner Greg Towers has gone one step further. Not only has he deleted all mention of Dotcom from his profile but has also erased references to the work he did with Mega, the cloud-hosting service founded by Dotcom.

But perhaps most telling is the way Chairman Kevin Jaffe has attempted to distance his company from Kim Dotcom.

Announcing the first edition of ‘Aluminate’ – the Simpson Grierson alumni newsletter, Jaffe singled out Dotcom’s case as one of just two big company projects worthy of a mention. As can be seen below, a year on and history has just been rewritten.(Original: Bing cache, rewrite here)

Of course, as is professional in these circumstances, no one is saying anything on the record about why Simpson Grierson has parted with Dotcom. However, with Dotcom’s extradition battle only a few months away, the timing could hardly have been worse for the Megaupload founder.

Dotcom and Rothken are now racing against the clock to bring new lawyers on board which, incidentally, is also something Simpson Grierson have just done withthe appointment of former New Zealand Minister of Justice, Tony Ryall.