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He is willing to face trial if they give him money first? That's not how Justice works in any modern country. His lawyers presumably told him as much, so this i
by cjensen 14y ago
He is willing to face trial if they give him money first? That's not how Justice works in any modern country. His lawyers presumably told him as much, so this is just another bizarre plea for attention.
- dangrossman 14y agoHe's asking for access to his money in his bank accounts that the US had frozen so that he can pay his lawyers.
- cjensen 14y agoAnd? Lots of people get their assets frozen. They don't get to make demands as a precondition of submitting to justice. Asking for special conditions that are never granted can only mean one of two things: either he is utterly ignorant of how law works or he is just trolling for more attention. I choose to view him as non-ignorant, but since my view is not fawning, apparently I get a massive karma downgrade. I'll live.
- ktizo 14y agoWell, actually he has precedent in his favour. CFTC v. Walsh: District Court Releases Funds Frozen in Civil Case to Pay for Attorney in Parallel Criminal Case: http://www.columbialawreview.org/articles/comment-cftc-v-walsh-district-court-releases-funds-frozen-in-civil-case-to-pay-for-attorney-in-parallel-criminal-case http://www.columbialawreview.org/articles/comment-cftc-v-wal... Also, how else do you get to have funds released other than through petition? And he has already submitted to the justice system, otherwise he wouldn't be turning up in court.
- cjensen 14y agoI don't disagree with what you said. But the topic was in regard to someone refusing to submit to justice unless their conditions were met. The point is, he must submit to the court before the court can grant his petition.
- ktizo 14y agoHe hasn't refused, he is fighting extradition in court. How can he have refused to submit to justice if he is taking part in court proceedings? Submitting to justice is not the same as doing whatever you are told, at least not since the establishment of habeas corpus as a standard.
- cjensen 14y agoCorrect me if I'm wrong, but the funds are frozen by the US, not NZ. "Submitting to Justice" does not mean "Submit to Prosecutor." It means making yourself available to the Court for the purpose of defending yourself at risk of being found guilty and punished. US Courts are not going to consider the petitions of someone who won't show up to Court. For example, Roman Polanski wishes to petition the US Courts regarding his Criminal Case. The US Courts correctly refuse to hear those petitions so long as Polanski is hiding from the Court.
- ktizo 14y agoThe funds are seized and frozen by Hong Kong and New Zealand at the request of the US authorities, which is how he has already managed to get some of it back from the New Zealand authorites.
- ralfn 14y agoNo, he wants to be able to use his own money for legal defensive, but he cant because they froze his funds.
- sp332 14y agoThe FBI wanted him extradited. He didn't want to be extradited. So there was going to be a hearing about whether the FBI got what they wanted, or Dotcom got what he wanted (or some court-mediated compromise, but that seems unlikely in this case). Kim negotiated with the FBI so they no longer disagree about whether he will be extradited, so the hearing is no longer required.
- briandear 14y agoThe FBI along with the Dutch, the British, the Germans and the Canadians. Let's not make this into an entirely US thing.
- ktizo 14y agoHe is going to the US to stand under US law and this was an FBI initiated and led operation, with the other organisations giving what the FBI terms "substantial and critical assistance", so as far as I can tell this means that outside the US, only the NZ police have assisted in any operational role. "Critical assistance" could even just mean other organisations advising them that it was an appallingly bad idea, depending on how cynically you judge the content of government documentation. http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/justice-department-charges-leaders-of-megaupload-with-widespread-online-copyright-infringement http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/justice-depa...