Authorities don’t owe Dotcom anything, claims crown layers

Federal lawyers have defended the police's and GCSB's illegal raid on Dotcom's home, suggesting that despite the fact that warrants were invalid, Dotcom is owed nothing by the police and that unauthorised copies of Dotcom's electronics were covered under the Search and Surveillance Act.

Off the bat this is obviously erroneous, as the Search and Surveillance Act didn't come in to play until April 2012 and therefore is not applicable to the Dotcom raid which occurred in January 2012. The act makes it possible for police to raid a property suspected of certain specific illegal activities without a warrant.

The other argument being put forward by Crown Lawyers, is that despite the paperwork being incorrect, the raid was conducted within the usual parameters of a valid warrant and therefore Dotcom's experience wasn't any different. The argument from the other side of the fence is that Dotcom shouldn't have been arrested in the first  place, without the proper paperwork.

Dotcom's mansion was raided last January, with helicopters and multiple teams of heavily armed special tactics officers.

This is all part of a “remedies hearing,” that will see a High Court judge rule later this year whether Dotcom is owed any recompense by the police forces and if any of his property should be returned to him. Dotcom's lawyers are requesting all of it – the cars, money and electronic equipment, that included several cloned hard drives.

Further claims of compensation by Dotcom will come at a later hearing.

KitGuru Says: You can argue over whether Dotcom is a folk hero or not, but some injustice was done to him in this whole debacle and it's nice to see so much of it coming to light through these hearings.

[Thanks Stuff.nz]

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