The High Court has given judgment on preliminary issues in a libel claim brought by Mr Mohamed Amersi against the BBC.
Mr Amersi is suing the BBC over an episode of Panorama and an article on the BBC website first published on 4 October 2021. He is seeking damages of up to £100,000, an injunction and an order under s.12, Defamation Act 2013.
A preliminary issue trial was held on 8 December 2023 before HHJ Lewis (sitting as a Judge of the High Court). In a judgment handed down today, the Judge ruled that both the Panorama episode and the website article bore the same meaning, namely that there are strong grounds for suspecting that, during his work for Telia (a Swedish telecommunications company), Mr Amersi had been involved in deals on its behalf which he knew or should have known were corrupt, or involved corrupt payments. The parties agreed, and the Judge held, that this meaning was defamatory of Mr Amersi at common law.
5RB’s Jonathan Scherbel-Ball and Luke Browne act for the BBC, led by Catrin Evans KC and instructed by Bristows LLP.