(Bloomberg) — Kim Dotcom, the internet entrepreneur facing extradition to the U.S. from New Zealand, vowed to continue his legal battle as his remaining co-defendants strike a deal with prosecutors.
Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk will face charges in New Zealand for offenses similar to those they faced in the U.S. and once those charges are heard the U.S. will drop extradition proceedings, the NZ Herald reported earlier Tuesday, citing a statement from their lawyer Peter Spring.
The two have an agreement with the U.S. and New Zealand governments, and no longer face extradition, Dotcom said in a tweet. He claimed the pair would become witnesses against him.
“I want to congratulate my former friends and partners to have found a case resolution,” he said. “I’m happy for them. After 10 years of U.S. lawfare I understand why they have given up. I don’t blame them and I sincerely wish them all the best.”
The U.S. is seeking the extraditions over Dotcom’s now defunct file-sharing website Megaupload.com, which is alleged to have been the vehicle for the biggest copyright infringement in U.S. history. Prosecutors allege that Megaupload, which once accounted for 4% of all internet traffic, generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds from the exchange of pirated films, music and files. Dotcom and his co-accused have always maintained their innocence.
“I’m now the last man standing in this fight and I will continue to fight because unlike my co-defendants I won’t accept the injustice we have been subjected to,” Dotcom said in his tweet. “If I have to go to jail for what Megaupload users did on our site then many Big Tech CEOs are in the same boat with me.”
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