Judge in MegaUpload Kim Dotcom Case Steps Down After Joking US is “Enemy”
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand judge has stepped down from overseeing the extradition case of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom after jokingly referring to the United States as “the enemy.”
Megaupload.com employees Bram van der Kolk, also known as Bramos, left, Finn Batato,second from left, Mathias Ortmann and founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.com Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor), right, appear in North Shore District Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. A New Zealand judge overseeing the Megaupload employees' extradition case to the US has stepped down after making remarks that the US is the "enemy." (AP)
The comment by Auckland District Court Judge David Harvey raised questions about his impartiality. He was discussing Internet copyright at a conference last week when he told an audience, “We have met the enemy, and he is U.S.”
Harvey’s comments referencing late cartoonist Walt Kelly were recorded and posted on the Internet.
The U.S. is attempting to extradite Dotcom on racketeering and money laundering charges that allege his file-sharing site was facilitating massive Internet piracy.
Harvey will be replaced by judge Nevin Dawson. An extradition hearing has been scheduled for March.
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