There will be no investigation into the legality of the Dutch seizure of Megaupload systems, which took place at the request of the US. MPs asked for this after the New Zealand house searches were declared illegal.
After the action against Megaupload at the beginning of this year, it became known that hundreds of the site’s servers were hosted in the Netherlands. Most of them were rented. The sixty systems owned by Megaupload were deactivated and seized by order of the Dutch authorities, following a request from the US. After the judge in New Zealand ruled that the search and seizures at the home and office of Megaupload CEO Kim Dotcom were unlawful, the ‘enraged’ GroenLinks MPs El Fassed and Dibi decided to ask parliamentary questions.
“It is disconcerting that the Netherlands is unquestioningly cooperating in American criminal cases without thoroughly investigating the legitimacy of the request for mutual assistance.” thus El Fassed at the time. He felt that the Netherlands had harmed freedom of expression by taking the internet sites off the air too easily. The members of parliament called for a court ruling on the legality of the Dutch action. However, Minister Opstelten of Security and Justice does not feel like this, according to his statement answer on the room questions.
“The request made by the American authorities to the Netherlands in the context of this investigation, like all incoming requests for mutual legal assistance, has been checked against the requirements of the applicable treaty and Dutch law. This request concerned a seizure, which was led by a examining magistrate”, says the minister, who adds that, in his opinion, there is no reason to assume that the investigative acts were carried out unlawfully in the Netherlands.
†