While Dotcom and several of his former colleagues were targeted for alleged copyright crimes, thus far the major battles have been focused on other legal aspects of the case.<\/p>\n
In a complaint filed at the Human Rights Tribunal, Dotcom accused the New Zealand Government of improperly withholding information. In 2015 Dotcom asked 28 ministers and several government departments to disclose information they held on him, without result.<\/p>\n
The requests were labeled as \u201curgent\u201d due to Dotcom\u2019s pending legal case, but then-Attorney General Chris Finlayson denied them as being vexatious and without sufficient grounds.<\/p>\n
Today the Human Rights Tribunal ruled that, by denying the requests, \u201c\u2026the Crown to be in clear breach of its obligations under the Privacy Act,\u201d awarding the Megaupload founder $90,000 in damages for \u201closs of dignity or injury to feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the financial windfall must be welcome, Dotcom also sees this ruling as a big victory in the grander scheme of things. According to the New Zealand entrepreneur, it means that the U.S. extradition bid is dead in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does the Human Rights Tribunal Judgement mean for my Extradition case? It is OVER!\u201d Dotcom just\u00a0tweeted<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBy unlawfully withholding information that could have helped my case the former Attorney General of New Zealand has perverted the course of Justice,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n The Tribunal\u2019s decision is a clear win for Dotcom. While it doesn\u2019t automatically end the extradition case, going forward it certainly doesn\u2019t hurt the position of Megaupload\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n Who it could hurt, according to Dotcom, is New Zealand\u2019s Privacy Commissioner John Edwards.<\/p>\n \u201cI call for the immediate resignation of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand for his complicity with the former Attorney General and Crown Law in unlawfully withholding information that New Zealanders were legally entitled to,\u201d Dotcom tweets.<\/p>\n The Privacy Commissioner retweeted Dotcom\u2019s request without commenting on it, which elicited another blow from Dotcom.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate the acknowledgment. The Human Rights Tribunal judgment makes you look utterly incompetent at best or co-conspiratorial at worst. Which is it? Either way, you\u2019re done,\u201d Dotcom added.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n A copy of the Human Rights Tribunal ruling is available\u00a0here (pdf)<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Source: \u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/dotcomover.png\")
<\/center>In addition to awarding damages, the ruling also requires the ministers and Government to comply with the original requests, as\u00a0Newshub<\/a>\u00a0writes.<\/p>\n![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"