Meurant: Police won't investigate Dotcom spying

Ross Meurant. Photo / APN

A complaint to police over the unlawful spying on Kim Dotcom will not be properly investigated and charges are unlikely, says former National MP and high-ranking policeman Ross Meurant.

The Green Party on Friday asked police to investigate the actions of the Government Communications Security Bureau in spying on Mr Dotcom and his associates in the weeks before the controversial raid on his Coatesville mansion.

Prime Minister John Key and the Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence, Justice Paul Neazor, have both acknowledged the spying on Mr Dotcom and an associate was unlawful because the two men were permanent residents.

Yesterday, Mr Meurant said he believed charges should be laid over the GCSB's actions.

However, that would not happen, he said. A long-standing police culture of avoiding court scrutiny over serious matters had now become entrenched in other agencies, including the GCSB.

"They will avoid at all costs having to account for their actions before a court of law. They'll put the preservation of themselves above the rule of law.

"The probability of the state being called to account for this shocking behaviour is zero."

Wellington lawyer Graeme Edgeler also believed a police investigation was unlikely, "and even if they do they'll probably decide like they did with Bradley Ambrose [in the Epsom teapot case] - yes, there has been [an offence] but decide not to charge him.

"But it does seem very clear to me that someone will have committed a crime. Whether it's the type that they should actually be charged for or if a warning or something is enough is a different question."

Last night, the Green Party said it had yet to hear back from the police over its complaint.