Dotcom fights "cherry-picked" evidence against him

The FBI and the Crown have so far refused to disclose the entirety of the evidence to be used against Dotcom

Kim Dotcom, fighting extradition to the United States on charges of copyright infringement and money laundering, says he is outraged that he is unable to access the evidence gathered by the FBI to be used against him.

"I just want the evidence that will help me with my case," he told reporters outside Auckland High Court yesterday.

The FBI and the Crown have so far refused to disclose the entirety of the evidence to be used against Dotcom, instead providing a 40-page summary document which the defence argues was "cherry-picked" from among over 20 million emails.

Crown lawyer John Pike argued that there was no need for Dotcom to have access because he was not being tried in New Zealand.
The judge in the extradition case needed only to decide if there was a case for him to answer in the US, Pike said, and that question was answered by the record of case.

Pike said to be eligible for disclosure, there was a threshold to be reached, and Dotcom's case did not meet that threshold.

Dotcom's lawyer, Paul Davison, argued that the disclosure of evidence is key to putting up an effective defence. The key to which will be disproving that Dotcom willfully broke copyright laws by showing email correspondence between Dotcom, Megaupload, and Megaupload users.

Davison says his client is being unduly hindered.

"The principles of human justice is to be able to defend oneself without having your hands tied behind your back," he says.

An emphatic Davison told the court that the US was looking to bend New Zealand laws to achieve its goals.

Davison says the extradition treaty between the two countries guarantees that New Zealand laws are applied when extradition is sought by the US.

"What this reveals is the US wants its laws, its rules, its practices to apply. They are trying to influence whether or not the disclosure will occur."

In May, Justice David Harvey ruled that Dotcom should have information to the evidence to be presented against him. The US then requested a review of this decision on the grounds it conflicted with the extradition treaty.

Both sides in the case sought leave to file affidavits in relation to the case and will do so by Monday.

Dotcom may also file an affidavit about what happened at his home on the day of the raids. Davison said his client had strong views on the actions of police.