Ordered to pay £310,000 in damages, including legal costs, by December 22 and to keep publishing apology for 28 days.
Major (retd) Adil Raja. SCREEN CAPTURE
In a major legal setback for YouTuber Adil Raja, a London High Court judge has ordered him to publicly apologize to retired Brigadier Rashid Naseer for defaming him. The apology must remain posted on Raja’s X, Facebook, YouTube and official website pages for 28 days, the judge ordered.
The court also ruled that Raja must pay a total of £310,000 in damages and legal costs by December 22. Of the amount, £50,000 is for damages, while £260,000 covers legal costs. You will also be responsible for additional legal costs, which will be determined later.
Raja is a YouTuber and former Pakistan army officer, a retired major, who has been accused by the state of anti-state propaganda.
The ruling was delivered by Judge Richard Spearman during a hearing at the Superior Court. Raja previously lost a defamation case brought against him in October this year and then attempted to appeal the verdict, which the court has now rejected.
Brigadier Naseer had requested the court to issue an order regarding the October sentence. Judge Spearman also issued an injunction preventing Adil Raja from publishing any further defamatory statements in the future.
Read more: Pakistan submits requests for extradition of Shehzad Akbar and Adil Raja to the United Kingdom
Raja’s lawyer indicated that they plan to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
In the October ruling, the court declared all allegations leveled by Raja against Brigadier Naseer unfounded. At the time, the court ordered Raja to publish a summary of the decision, acknowledging that his allegations were defamatory and that Brigadier Naseer had won the case.
Brigadier Naseer was present in court on Monday to hear the ruling, while Raja’s lawyers represented him.
The case originated when Raja accused Brigadier Naseer of taking control of the Lahore High Court, bribing politicians to rig elections, using police to defeat PTI candidates and horse-trading in the name of General Bajwa.
Naseer took legal action after ten allegedly defamatory posts by Raja were published on social media platforms X, Facebook and YouTube.
Last week, the Government of Pakistan submitted extradition documents for Shehzad Akbar and Raja to the British High Commission, requesting their immediate return. “These people are wanted in Pakistan and must be handed over without delay,” said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Naqvi held a meeting with British High Commissioner Jane Marriott during which the two sides discussed Pakistan-UK relations, security cooperation and issues of mutual interest.
Akbar, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, served as an advisor to now-jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
