New Zealand official signs extradition order to send Kim Dotcom to US

12 years after Megaupload shutdown, Dotcom will keep fighting extradition to US.

Jon Brodkin – Aug 15, 2024 4:38 PM | 169

Kim Dotcom speaks to the media after a bail hearing at Auckland District Court on December 1, 2014, in Auckland, New Zealand. Credit: Getty Images | Fiona Goodall

Kim Dotcom has lost yet another ruling in his attempt to avoid extradition from New Zealand to the United States, over a dozen years after the file-sharing site Megaupload was shut down. But he hasn't run out of appeal options yet.

On Thursday, a government spokesperson confirmed that New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith signed an extradition order for Dotcom, according to Reuters.

"I have received extensive advice from the Ministry of Justice on this matter," Goldsmith said in a statement quoted by numerous news organizations. "I considered all of the information carefully and have decided that Mr. Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial. As is common practice, I have allowed Mr. Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision. I will not, therefore, be commenting further at this stage."

The latest extradition decision, like previous ones, is not final. Dotcom said this week that he will appeal. "By the time the appeals are done, if ever, the world will be a very different place," he wrote.

"I love New Zealand. I'm not leaving," he also posted today.

A New Zealand Herald article today said that Dotcom's expected appeal could drag the case out another few years. "If extradition goes ahead, it could be years from now," the newspaper wrote.

Dotcom blasts “obedient US colony”

Dotcom blasted the New Zealand government, writing that "the obedient US colony in the South Pacific just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to Megaupload, unsolicited, and what copyright holders were able to remove with direct delete access instantly and without question."

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Megaupload was shut down by US authorities in January 2012. Dotcom and others were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, criminal copyright infringement, aiding and abetting of criminal copyright infringement, and wire fraud.

Dotcom has been able to delay extradition despite numerous rulings against him. One New Zealand judge ordered Dotcom's extradition in December 2015. The extradition order was upheld in 2017 by one appeals court and again in 2018 by another appeals court.

The New Zealand Supreme Court ruled against Dotcom and two other defendants, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, in December 2021. Ortmann and van der Kolk reached a deal that let them "avoid being extradited to the US in exchange for facing charges in New Zealand," an Associated Press article in May 2022 said.

The AP article said that despite the Supreme Court ruling against the three Megaupload defendants, extradition still required approval from the justice minister. "And even that decision could be appealed," the AP wrote.

After the 2021 Supreme Court ruling, Stuff quoted Victoria University law professor Geoff McLay as saying that judicial review of an extradition decision by the justice minister would likely involve hearings before the New Zealand High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. If the justice minister "makes a decision they should be extradited, I would imagine they would immediately judicially review his decision which will then kick off the whole shebang again," McLay said at the time.

In a May 2022 podcast, New Zealand Herald investigative reporter David Fisher said, "I think there's a good possibility that we have another three or five years in court wrangles through this case. You might have the justice minister sign the extradition warrant, but then that will get appealed to the High Court through judicial review, then it will go to the Court of Appeal and on to the Supreme Court. And when you get to a point three or five years down the track where Dotcom's health may not be something the US system is able to deal with—and that could be good, fresh grounds for bouncing extradition."