Kim Dotcom’s case in NZ court

Indonesia bus crash kills 27

WELLINGTON, Feb 11, (Agencies): Internet mogul Kim Dotcom’s legal case returns to court in New Zealand Monday for what may be the Megaupload founder’s final chance of avoiding extradition to the United States.

Dotcom’s epic extradition battle has dragged on for more than six years, starting in January 2012 when armed police acting on an FBI request raided his Auckland mansion.

The 44-year-old German national is accused of industrial-scale online piracy via his Megaupload empire, which US authorities shut down when the raid took place.

If sent to the United States he will face charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering carrying jail terms of up to 20 years.

Dotcom and his three co-accused — Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk — maintain their innocence and will challenge the legitimacy of their arrests this week at the Court of Appeal in Wellington.

If the appeals court rules Dotcom is eligible for extradition, a process that could take months, he will have limited options for overturning the decision.

Dotcom

Indonesia bus crash kills 27:

A packed tourist bus returning from an outing collided with a motorbike and plunged from a hill on Indonesia’s main island of Java after its brakes apparently malfunctioned, killing at least 27 people, police said Sunday.

At least 18 others were hospitalized with injuries, some in critical condition, following the crash Saturday on a winding slope in Subang in West Java province, said local police chief Muhammad Joni.

Television footage showed police, soldiers and medical personnel evacuating the victims from the upsidedown bus, which was carrying more than 40 local tourists. The bus was headed for Tangerang, a satellite city just south of the capital, Jakarta, from West Java’s Tangkuban Perahu, a popular mountainous resort.

Knife attack wounds 4:

A knifewielding attacker wounded four church-goers in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on Sunday, officials said, before being shot by police who could not yet confirm if it was a terrorrelated incident.

Police said they were investigating possible motives for the attack by the suspect, believed to be a university student, at a Catholic church service in Yogyakarta, the gateway to the cultural centre of Indonesia’s main island of Java.

“We cannot confirm yet if this was a terror-related incident,” said Yogyakarta police spokesman Yuliyanto, who goes by one name like many Indonesians. “We can confirm the suspect has been detained and is being treated at hospital.”

Hundreds of Thais gather:

Around four hundred people gathered at a monument to democracy in the Thai capital on Saturday to urge the military government not to delay a national election planned later this year, in one of the biggest anti-junta demonstrations since the military took power in 2014.

Elections to restore democracy have been postponed several times with November being latest date set by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who was appointed by a militarybacked legislature following a coup in 2014.

But a change in the election law by parliament last month means the date almost definitely will be pushed back to early 2019, something that has fanned growing discontent among groups who are calling for a swift return to civilian rule.