Global site navigation

Local editions

Kim Dotcom vows to fight order for US extradition
Technology

Kim Dotcom vows to fight order for US extradition

by  AFP 1 min read
Tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has been battling US attempts to extradite him from New Zealand for years
Tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has been battling US attempts to extradite him from New Zealand for years. Photo: MICHAEL BRADLEY / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Follow our WhatsApp channel to never miss out on the news that matters to you!

New Zealand-based tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom lashed out at the US government Friday, as his decade-long effort to avoid extradition on fraud and money laundering charges appeared to have failed.

Local media reported Thursday that New Zealand's justice minister had signed an order to extradite Dotcom, the founder of the Megaupload file-sharing system.

He faces charges including fraud, money laundering and racketeering, punishable with up to 20 years in jail.

Dotcom has long fought extradition while publicly styling himself as a champion of internet freedom and claiming he is being persecuted for political reasons.

He is an outspoken supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has enthusiastically echoed Kremlin arguments that the war in Ukraine could spark nuclear armageddon.

"I love New Zealand. I'm not leaving," he posted defiantly in a series of posts from Thursday.

Read also

US lawmakers press Meta over illicit drug ads

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!

"I would do it all over again," he said, while describing the US government as "criminal".

His website -- an early prototype of cloud storage -- was shut down when New Zealand police raided Dotcom's Auckland mansion in January 2012 at the behest of the FBI.

US prosecutors allege the Megaupload service facilitated widespread piracy of films and publications, costing rights holders more than US$500 million.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.

Hot: