Ummah Welfare Trust wins libel case against Sunday Express
Categories: Latest News
Thursday April 15 2010
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The Sunday Express has today been forced to pay substantial damages to the charity Ummah Welfare Trust (UWT) for defaming the institution in an article published in December 2009, “Jet bomb ordered by 9/11 spiritual leader”. |
Press Gazette reports that Luke Staiano of Carter Ruck, acting for UWT, explained that the Sunday Express ‘claimed that [Anwar] al Awlaki was one of the “favourite speakers” of the charity, which organises emergency relief for developing countries.
‘Staiano said: “The charity does not have any connections with Anwar al Awlaki and the claimants have never met him and do not support or condone his extremist views or objectives…
“The article alleged that the charity accepted donations from the Islamic society of University College London in order to advance an extremist and terrorist agenda of the kind supported by Anwar al Awlaki.
“While the charity has accepted donations from the UCL Islamic Society, as with every donation received by the charity, these donations were applied by the claimants to relief work of an entirely charitable nature and were not accepted in furtherance of any extremist or terrorist agenda.”
‘Staiano said the article also alleged that the charity has aided the cause of terrorism through connections to Hamas.
‘He added: “The charity has never funded nor had any links with Hamas or any other terrorist organisation. The same applies to the claimants. The aid distributed by the charity and the claimants has always been applied to wholly charitable purposes.”
‘Staiano told the court that Express Newspapers, publisher of the Express, now accepted that the allegations were false and should not have been published.
‘He said: “As a mark of regret, the defendant [Express] has agreed to pay the claimants a substantial sum in damages, which the claimants propose to apply to the charity’s funds.”
The Sunday Express was forced to print an apology to the East London Mosque for describing the institution as ‘radical’ and linking it to Anwar Al-Awlaki in the same article.
Update: Express Newspapers’ printed apology to UWT can be read here.