Post date: Aug 08, 2012 12:29:6 PM
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (AUGUST 8, 2012)(TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND (TVNZ) - Video of the armed raid carried out by New Zealand police on the mansion rented by internet tycoon Kim Dotcom was seen publicly for the first time on Wednesday (August 8), when it was shown in an Auckland court.
Video showing the armed police raid on the New Zealand mansion of internet tycoon Kim Dotcom is shown in court for the first time.
New Zealand's Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group, along with a dog unit, raided the house at the request of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
But the operation has since been ruled illegal and the court hearing this week will determine what should happen to the computers, hard drives, art work and luxury cars that were seized.
On Wednesday, Kim Dotcom's lawyer Paul Davison asked police whether the decision to mount such a raid was appropriate.
"We had concerns about security staff and their motivation to resist the police executing the warrant, a motivation to protect Mr. Dotcom and then in addition access the firearms, etc," said an unidentified police witness.
Local media said the court was told that during the raid, officers told Kim Dotcom to show them his hands but that he didn't. Police said it took several officers to push Dotcom the ground.
On Tuesday (August 7), Dotcom, the founder of the Megaupload online file-sharing site, said police punched and kicked him during the raid. Police denied the allegations.
"Did one of the officers in your presence strike him in the face?" asked Davison.
"Not to my knowledge. There was no time for that to happen," said the unidentified police officer.
Police said one officer wearing boots stood on Dotcom's hand during the arrest but said it was not intentional.
Dotcom, a German national, is fighting extradition to the United States from New Zealand on internet piracy, money laundering and breach of copyright charges.
The FBI says Dotcom led a group that has netted $175 million US dollars since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorisation.
Lawyers for the flamboyant entrepreneur said the company simply offered online storage.
Dotcom and three others were arrested in the raid. Dotcom was kept in custody for a month before being granted bail.