Ordered to pay £310,000 in damages including legal costs by December 22, and to keep the apology message for 28 days.
Major (retired) Adil Raja. SCREENSHOT
In a major legal setback for YouTuber Adil Raja, a judge at London’s High Court has ordered him to publicly apologize to retired Brigadier Rashid Naseer for defaming him. The apology must remain posted on Raja’s X pages, Facebook, YouTube and the official website 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 this amount, £50,000 is for damages, while £260,000 covers legal costs. Additional legal costs, to be determined later, will also be payable.
Raja is a YouTuber and a former Pakistani army officer, retired major, accused by the state of anti-state propaganda.
The decision was made by Mr Justice Richard Spearman during a hearing at the High Court. Raja had previously lost a defamation case filed against him in October this year and later tried to appeal the verdict, which the court has now rejected.
Brigadier Naseer had requested the court to pass an order regarding the October judgment. Judge Spearman also issued an injunction preventing Adil Raja from publishing any further defamatory statements in the future.
Learn more: Pakistan submits extradition requests for Shehzad Akbar and Adil Raja to UK
Raja’s lawyer said he plans to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
In the October judgment, the court had declared all the allegations leveled by Raja against Brigadier Naseer baseless. At the time, the court ordered Raja to publish a summary of the decision, acknowledging that his accusations were defamatory and that Brigadier Naseer had won the case.
Brigadier General Naseer was present in court on Monday to hear the judgment, while Raja’s lawyers represented him.
The case arose when Raja accused Brigadier Naseer of taking control of the Lahore High Court, bribing politicians to manipulate elections, using police to defeat PTI candidates and bargaining in the name of General Bajwa.
Naseer filed the lawsuit after ten allegedly defamatory posts by Raja were published on social media platforms X, Facebook and YouTube.
Last week, the Pakistan government submitted extradition documents of Shehzad Akbar and Raja to the British high commissioner, demanding their immediate return. “These individuals are wanted in Pakistan and must be handed over without delay,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.
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, was an advisor to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is now in jail.
