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Kim Dotcom extradition hearing delayed again

By | Published on Wednesday 19 March 2014

Kim Dotcom

The hearing to rule on Kim Dotcom’s extradition to the US has been delayed yet again, a New Zealand court spokesperson has confirmed.

Most recently due to begin on 14 Apr, the two week hearing to consider the application to have Dotcom and his MegaUpload co-founders extradited to the US, to face copyright infringement and other charges relating to their former business, is now scheduled to begin on 7 Jul. At which point it will be more than two and a half years since MegaUpload was shut down by the American authorities, and almost two years since the extradition hearing was original due to take place in August 2012.

The delay is down to continued legal arguments over how much evidence the US Department Of Justice should have to disclose to MegaUpload’s legal team prior to the court session. As previously reported, in December last year the DoJ did release some of its evidence in a 191 page report as part of this ongoing squabble.

But Dotcom’s legal reps have continued to fight for further evidence disclosure. Mainly because, they argue, the DoJ has not yet sufficiently shown there are grounds for a criminal case against their client at all. Which is important because if Dotcom only had to face civil action in relation to his role at MegaUpload, then he could not be extradited.

Dotcom has also accused US authorities of delaying his case in the hope that his mounting legal costs will weaken his ability to fight the charges against him.



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