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Mail loses defamation case to British Pakistani cleric over false Khadim Rizvi allegations

LONDON: A British Pakistani Imam and British government advisor on Islamophobia has been awarded damages and a full public apology after the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online falsely accused him of supporting Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Khadim Rizvi’s November 2017 Faizabad dharna and the hanging of Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi.

Qari Muhammad Asim, who is a senior Imam at Leeds Makkah Mosque and Chair of Mosques & Imams National Advisory Board, won an apology from the Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) in London High Court after suing the publishes of Mail newspapers.

Speaking to Geo and The News, Qari Asim confirmed that publishers of Mail Online and Mail on Sunday have paid him libel damages as well as his legal costs.

The Mail on Sunday claimed in an article - ‘Revealed: government advisor on Islamophobia and cleric who called for the hanging of Christian’ - published on 6 April 2019 that Qari Asim supported Khadim Rizvi’s Faizabad dharna after a Statement was issued by British Muslim Scholars (supported by a number of British Imams) asking the Pakistani government to avoid violence and resolve the dharna issue.

The statement by British Muslim scholars expressed hope that “through dialogue, a swift and sustainable resolution is achieved between the parties so that any civil unrest and violence can be avoided”, as there was concern that violent clashes had begun between the government and the protestors.