In a recent speech on civil liberties, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that the U.K. coalition government would restore civil liberties with the same systematic ruthlessness with which the former government took them away. It is this corrupt U.K. libel law that Ethiopia’s ruling party and its billionaire financier Al Amoudi are trying to exploit in their campaign to shut down Ethiopian Review. Read more about DPM Clegg’s speech below.
(BBC) — […] Mr Clegg said the coalition government would restore civil liberties with the same systematic ruthlessness with which the former government took them away.
And he said he wanted to reform libel and turn the law from “an international laughing-stock to an international blueprint.”
He said a forthcoming draft libel bill would propose a statutory defence for those speaking out in the public interest, “whether they be big broadcasters or the humble blogger”.
That move, which was being considered by the former Labour government when it ran out of time, comes after a string of cases in which scientific writers have been sued over legitimate academic research or studies.
Mr Clegg said libel should also be reformed to better reflect “the realities of the internet” and also to end “libel tourism” under which foreign claimants sue foreign publications or writers in the British courts.
“We want public-spirited academics and journalists to be fearless in publishing legitimate research. Not least when it relates to medical care or public safety,” he said.
“It is a farce – and an international embarrassment – that the American Government has felt it necessary to legislate to protect their citizens from our libel laws.”
20 thoughts on “U.K. libel law is “an international laughing-stock” – DPM”
My dear Gragn Ahmed,
Your cousin, Al Amoudi, is going to lose his case against the innocent journalist Elias Kifle, thanks to the British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s fiery and honest speech.
When I had a bad headache I went online to see if there is anything that I should be concerned about. And I think you are very scared to look into this case and came up with such statements made by the deputy prime Minster of UK. Too bad for you, every law and policy change will take effect at least after 1 year, by then you are in deep shit.
I’m afraid the world is going to hell in handbasket!
After considering the case thoroughly I called the British Deputy Prime Minister to correct their erroneous law; therefore, he agreed and unfortunately Mr. Al Amoudi may have to file the law suit in Afganistan or Somalia. Where should he file it? But if he really wants my wisdom, I suggest he files it at the federal court in Addis.
How, under what legal procedure can it be made this case be heard in USA?
I don’t think the Al Amudi lawsuit in London was a genuine one, Al Amudi being the inner circle of Woyanne was just doing his job to confuse Ethiopians, to make you look like you are anti-Woyanne while unbeknown to the overwhelming majority of Ethiopians you have cast your lot with ethiomedia’s Abreha Belay, playing your role as a Woyanne mouthpiece, doing their propaganda work for them. I don’t think it takes a genuis to figure this out.
Dear Assta,
This site may help you. In UK it takes about 12 years to inact a new law such as this libel or defamation case. Right now, the law is against free speech, reckless journalism,
The problem the libel laws create is not so much that critical stories can’t be written, but that they won’t be. As the conversations I had this summer show, for many journalists and their employers the potential for a libel case is a powerful deterrent to criticism: the pieces aren’t worth the hassle. Singh has commented that “if I successfully defend my article, I will have had to have put my career on hold for probably two years, and it will cost me perhaps £25,000 [about $41,500] because I am unlikely to recover all my costs. And if I lose my case, then it will cost me roughly £500,000 [$800,000]. Fighting and winning is bad enough; fighting and losing is catastrophic.” Most writers won’t take the risk. And who can blame them?
We have first hand experience fighting UK libel laws. Until now we’ve kept the fight on the back burner on our CrunchNotes blog. But recent developments are so absurd I’m moving the discussion here.
We were sued in the UK earlier this year by Sam Sethi, a man who started a company called Blognation. The post that was the subject of the lawsuit, and which gives a lot of background on his antics, is here. In a nutshell, he’s a very, very bad guy.
So bad in fact that he has been banned from being an owner or executive in any UK company until 2015 (he has ignored that court order, and the UK doesn’t seem inclined to enforce it). And most of his previous employees have gone on record talking about how he committed fraud and other crimes (see “our second response” here, as well as here and here).
For more info. here is the link. You will be sad.
http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/22/uk-libel-law-is-out-of-control-we-know-from-experience/
of libel is close to 45,000 uk pound the least and may reach to 500,000. If the plaintiff wants to drag the case it may need elais to spend at least two years of his full time job sky rocketing his cost to 800000 pounds.
Elias, ayzoh, tekesash aykeflim. Genzeb endeleleh kenegerkachew, you will be entitled to legal aid which even the MP themselves claim. The british legal system is so clever that it wants to avoid incurring the expense on the plaintiff if he/she claims legal aid, draining the tax payers money in times of austerity & cuts cuts and cuts. So they would make sure the Tujar won’t win (in fact, he won’t even win in a straight way either) so that all the legal cost can be shouldered by him. I’m gonna love this show. The tujar will either drop the case to save his cash and blush or will become a laughing stock & will be rediculed as a child molester caught trying to bribe his way to get his what he wants. He’s relying on his money. Just tell us the trial date and we’ll bring our troop there to confront the criminal tujar. Its a battle of David against Goliadth. Elias balahin anetatir. We’ll dress up as David with an improvised balla and a billboard ‘David against Golliad’ in a made in a massive tabella.
In dubio pro reo. Innocent until proven guilty. Elias abuses this news outlet to perform character assassination on another person. This person’s wealth or political views do not make him unprotected game for anyone who want to destroy his reputation.
Elias’s way of spreading hearsay is not new: the Romans used to say “audacter calumniare, semper aliquid haeret” Slander boldly, something always sticks. But this is miles away from simple and decent journalism.
Elias, don’t be deceived by the encouragement you get from your usual apple-shiners. It is dead wrong and a serious crime to call someone a pedophile and a terrorist just because you don’t share his political views.
Elias is not a legal UK resident. Hence no entitlement to legal fee expenses. If you have some, donate some penny. other wise do not give misleading information.
Elias, i told u. No one can beat truth. Keep on voicing for the voiceless Ethiopians . God is always with you. We Ethiopians will never forget you.
Time will change and there will be time when we honor you and your web page for the unforgettable struggle you made to stand for the unity and identity of Ethiopia.
Petro dollar wont beat God and truth. They may feel that they are harassing you, but those beaches wont who are enemies of Ethiopia will never be successful
Elias……. I think you are going to win quite comfortably.
But there is one thing that you need to understand…… You need never concede or compromise….. Be steadfast. One single concession, however trivial it might seem to you at the time, can open a give an opening for your enemies & enemies of humanity in general a room to push you to a corner and curtail your activities. You should know that Tyrant Meles is an established ally of the western establishment that they don’t want him upset. I’m sure you’ll win this easily but I hope you come out uncompromised & undeterred by all this, too.
God give you the strength & bestow his wisdow onto you.
My dear Gragn Ahmed #7,
Thank you for the site, and I enjoyed reading it; after I read it very carefully, I responded you very kindly, but Elias Kifle didn’t post it because he might have thought it would offend you, for I have said something about the British Muslims. Any time when he sees the name Islam in my comment, he would never post it. You can understand how much Elias Kifle cares for you even though you hate him and his likes.
UK has a law that allows it to get to subjects in other jurstiction. As funny as it sounds this law is seriously abused by people who have money. If the accused does not respond to the lawsuit in time the person be considered as a fugitive of the law. If the accused passes through UK he/she will find himself/herself answering to UK’s legal system. As you all know UK does not have a constitution, so the liablity law is interpreted as widely (or should I say wildly) as they want it to sound. At the end of the day, Elias will be considered a fugitive to UK’s law, and at some point he can fall in the hands of the UK law. He may not serve time for it, but it will certainly inconvience his life. Al Amoudi is abusing UK’s law, just because he has money he can make the life of many genuine Ethiopians a living hell just for the fun of it?
How unfair is that!
Dear Assta Getu,
I doubt it he cares for me personally. He should care about his professional ethics and his responsibilities. Unfortunately, I doubt Elias has those qualities as can be attested to by this law suit. I am neither interested in his arrest or libel case but things were very childish and you Assta pushed him I believe beyond limits to serve your ego. At any rate past is past. A man of bravity is one who admits mistakes and moves on as in American system. Elias by the way censored a lot of my comments as well, even before things changed after the libel suit that may anger people like you Assta. Such comments relate to the good things about Muslims and the bad really the negative aspects of Ethiopian christians.
Now, coming back to this thing. How can Elias get out of this situation. He needs reflection. If he really knows what he did and want to get back to normal I would advise him to write a formal letter of apology to the main players of the libel suit in this case the father Al Amoudin and the daughter Sara who also may be appreciative of this gesture. I know Al Amoudin being a good natured man will be happy to rescind his law suit and things will work out amicably. The other option is to defy the law and act like a thug and spoil his professional ethics. That will have an unknown cost attached to it in the long way or he can fight it back.
The answer lies in his own hands.
It is the responsibility of the editor to carefully censor any malicious comments. Otherwise, everything is going to come back to him haunting him and depriving him of energy, interest and enthusiasm for the job. I urge the editors of the website to exercise vigilant on those comments posted by Assta and co. that only cause wounds to keep bleeding that healing them as they only were meant to be in the first place. So Elias don’t get pushed by those who drop “ye Azo emba” but can not afford a penny to defray your libel suit case.
I would not count on Assta for sure when it comes to helping out. Actually, Assta needs to be sued along with you or at least you should ask him to share the cost substantially if not 50 / 50. As every body knows Assta want to be a champion of Ethiopian christians.
On a final note British Muslims are law abiding and as you know recently British elite woman Laura Booth a sister of Britinas ex rpime minister embraced Islam. People like Bernard Shaw spoke of good things for Islam. The first English translation of Quran was made by an English man who converted to islam or more properly reverted to Islam. I know Assta you may not all be happy about it but I will not post somethings that may anger you about British christians either.
Mesalama
Having read both sides of the arguments, I just want to say something. I agree with the fact that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. However, I see some of you dare to compare the justice system in the UK with that of Ethiopia and other dictatorial states and this is unfortunate. The UK court is not that of a kangaroo court and not inferior to that of the USA. Therefore, Elias will have his day in court whenever that may be. If he has been conducting himself unprofessionally and running a tabloid style reporting where there are no boundaries between facts and fictions, then he needs a slap in the wrist. Where as if he is a professional journalist and his reports and accusations are based only on facts then there is nothing to fear. We are all equal before the law in this country. Money can buy a top lawyer but in the end what matters is the truth and whether we are within the law or not.
Any one who takes assta seriously is wasting his time. He is a paranoid, lunatic and mentally sick person who could only see himself on his mirror while there are six plus billions with him on this earth. I am hoping that there is no a person on this earth at this time who is thinking like assta be gettu and hoping that he is doing this intentionally simply to invite as many people as he needs to participate by invoking the idea of religion
He thinks he is the only pure person and follows a flawless religion and he thinks with his little sick mind that, every body else is crazy, wrong, evil, immoral and corrupt. This is a sickness that creates a people like Hitler, Mussolini and Osama Bin Laden. Assta be gettu the little Hitler is trying to advocate that it is only his religion that is pure like Hitler was advocating that it is only his race that is pure on this earth. This is the worst sickness that needs a thorough medical or psychiatry attention. If he is not forced to see a doctor he may end up in being a suicide bomber. He hates everyone else except him self.
Gragn Ahmed #16,
Elias Kifle depends on himself; he does not depend either on me or on someone else: This is a fact.
I’m amazed by your final note: “…British Muslims are law abiding…” citizens.
How can one forget what some British Muslims did to the British citizens on July 7, 2005 when they attacked London where 37 people were killed and over 700 people were wounded as the result of this Islamist terrorist attack? Does this act of terrorism make the British Muslims law-abiding citizens? I don’t think so!
I want you to read about the history of Islamist terrorists on the following site:
http://www.islam-watch.org/Sami/Islamic-Terrorists-doing-what-Muhammad-did.htm
To glorify your religion, you mentioned Laura Booth, Toney Blair’s sister, who was recently converted to Islam. It doesn’t bother me that match, and members of her Church are not going to kill her for her wrong choice, and that is the beauty of Christianity. If Gragn Ahmed changes his faith and joins Christianity, he has to live in hiding for the rest of his life, and that is the ugliness of Islam because of Quran 4:90. I can hide you in my basement, and no one is going to touch you if you become a Christian, Gragn Ahmed.
You named just one person who was converted to Islam; I can name hundreds of people – scientists, physicians, governors, politicians, philosophers, and Imams – who were converted to Christianity from Islam, but I don’t want to mention their names because of, again, Quran 4:90.
Thanks for your write-up. My spouse and i have constantly observed that a lot of people are eager to lose weight since they wish to show up slim and also attractive. Even so, they do not usually realize that there are many benefits so that you can losing weight in addition. Doctors say that overweight people come across a variety of diseases that can be instantly attributed to their particular excess weight. Fortunately that people who sadly are overweight plus suffering from various diseases can help to eliminate the severity of their own illnesses simply by losing weight. It is easy to see a steady but notable improvement in health while even a negligible amount of fat loss is obtained.