Mr Justice Eady today awarded Rashid Ghannouchi £165,000 damages for allegations that he was an Islamic extremist with links to Al Qaeda who deserved to be expelled from the UK.
The allegations were published by the Arabic language satellite television news channel Al Arabiya.
The Court was told that Mr Ghannouchi had in fact opposed violence and terrorism in all forms throughout his life, and suffered political oppression for his belief in peaceful democratic change within Islamic societies.
The Defendant had never suggested that there was any truth in the allegations, or that they were published with the protection of qualified privilege, but had failed to apologise for or correct the allegations for a period of two years.
5RB‘s Jacob Dean, instructed by Carter-Ruck, appeared for Mr Ghannouchi.
