Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm's custody has been extended for four more weeks after the court reviewed new evidence. The prosecution presented an encrypted container found on Svartholm's computer which links him to the CSC hack, but according to his lawyer this doesn't rule out that someone else carried out the hacks remotely.

Late last year Gottfrid Svartholm was extradited to Denmark, where The Pirate Bay founder stands accused of hacking into the mainframe computers of IT company CSC.

After several custody extensions Svartholm appeared in court again this week, and for the first time the hearing was open to the press and “Free Anakata” supporters.

During the court session new evidence was presented which allegedly links Svartholm to the CSC hack. The prosecution said that an encrypted file found on Svartholm’s computer contained the Swede’s personal information as well as documents related to the hacks.

According to the court this evidence warrants another custody extension of four weeks, which means that Svartholm will remain in detention until April 2nd.

“Our suspicion has been confirmed, because the personal data found on Svartholm’s computer comes from the same place where the CSC files were stored. It reinforces our belief that it is obviously not a random person remotely accessed the computer to do all these things,” senior prosecutor Maria Cingari told Politiken in a comment.

The prosecution believes that Svartholm was operating under the alias ‘My Evil Twin’ while his 20-year-old co-defendant used the handle ‘Advanced Persistent Terrorist Threat.’

Gottfrid’s lawyer Luise Høj



Svartholm’s lawyer Luise Høj, who posed with a “Free Anakata” poster outside court, points out that the evidence in the encrypted container is not new. The container also holds documents from the Nordea hack and was previously used in the Swedish trial.

“The same material was used in the Swedish case. In the encrypted container are CSC documents, Nordea material and personal information about my client. It is evidence that the Swedish High Court has considered and which they believed affected the case,” Høj said.

In the Swedish case the Pirate Bay founder was acquitted of hacking Nordea because it could not be proven that Svartholm carried out the hacks himself. Svartholm later pointed this out in an open letter to the Danish authorities last year, but his extradition went ahead nonetheless.

Svartholm’s lawyer hopes to use the same “remote access” argument in Denmark, but thus far the authorities aren’t being cooperative.

“We have asked for investigative measures that can help to make it probable that my client’s computer has been accessed remotely, but so far, police have not been willing to comply,” Høj said.

It is expected that the defense will get the opportunity to law out their argument in detail at a later stage. Svartholm is expected to remain in prison until then. The trial is currently scheduled to start on September 2nd.