AUCKLAND, New Zealand, May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mega Limited notes that Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk have issued the following personal statement:
Press Statement by Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk
It has been over 10 years now since the United States of America first requested our extradition to face charges associated with our operation of Megaupload.
Late last year, the Supreme Court finally ruled that we were eligible for extradition. This meant our case was referred to the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Kris Fa’afoi, to determine whether we would be surrendered.
New Zealand is our home now and we want to stay here. The continuing uncertainty associated with the extradition case has taken a heavy toll on our lives and the time has come to move on. Accordingly, we have reached an agreement with the New Zealand Government and the United States of America under which we have agreed to be charged in New Zealand for offences similar to those we face in the United States. Once those charges are heard by the New Zealand courts, the United States will withdraw its extradition proceedings against us.
While this means we will not be extradited, there is still a process ahead of us as we face charges in New Zealand. This matter being before the court, we will not be making any further comment at this time.
This press statement was issued by Peter JK Spring, solicitor for Bram van der Kolk and Mathias Ortmann.
About MEGA
MEGA is a leading global platform for end-to-end encrypted communication and file storage. It has more than 250 million registered users in 195 different countries, who have stored more than 120 billion files. Mega Limited employs 80 staff in New Zealand and a further 60 located in many other countries.
MEGA is accessible in multiple languages from desktop (Windows, macOS and Linux) and Android / iOS mobile apps.
User files are held in secure facilities in Europe or in countries (such as New Zealand and Canada) that the European Commission has determined to have an adequate level of protection under Article 45 of the GDPR.
At a time when users’ online privacy and the protection of private data is more important than ever, MEGA provides a vital service to protect data and offer online privacy.
For more information see https://mega.io/
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