September 27th 2012
The Prime Minister apologized to Kim Dotcom today for the GCSB spying on him. The GCSB can only spy on foreigners who could be a threat to New Zealand but Mr Dotcom is a New Zealand resident. Most Aucklanders know this because when Mr Dotcom gained his PR status in 2011, he held a giant fireworks display in Auckland which cost half a million dollars. It seems the GCSB did not know this.
In January this year, Kim Dotcom’s home was raided by the police and he was arrested. Two months before this, the GCSB spied on him. They said this was to check that he and his partners were not a danger to police. We don’t know what kind of spying the GCSB did. Was it checking emails or phone tapping or just watching who entered and left the house?
The Labour Party said this action could cost the country millions of dollars because Kim Dotcom could sue. It also damaged New Zealand’s reputation as a country without corruption.
The Prime Minister said that the GCSB made a mistake. The Inspector-General, who is an independent person, will investigate how this mistake happened.
Listen to January 21st 2012 to hear about the raid on Kim Dotcom’s home.
Vocabulary
GCSB – Government Communications Security Bureau
threat – a possible danger
raid – a surprise attack by the police
sue – go to court to get money for this illegal action
reputation – good name
investigate – try to find out