Habib wins first defamation case

Raul Bassi, Sydney

After deliberating for less than a day on February 14, a jury found that Mamdouh Habib, who was incarcerated without charge for three years at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, was defamed by an article published by the Sydney Daily Telegraph. A NSW Supreme Court judge will now determine whether Habib is entitled to compensation.

Habib's barrister, Clive Evatt QC, argued that four articles — printed in the Daily Telegraph and the Weekend Australian in 2002 and 2005 — damaged his client's reputation by suggesting he was a terrorist, a liar, a fundraiser for terrorist organisations and a follower of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Habib told Green Left Weekly that he was pleased to be able to prove that he is not a terrorist. He is also suing Sydney radio station 2UE's John Laws for defamation. That case will be heard in May.

Habib also told GLW he hoped his defamation actions would help his case against the Australian government, still to be heard, in which he is suing Canberra for not protecting him when he was arrested and tortured in Pakistan, Egypt and Guantanamo Bay.

From Green Left Weekly, February 22, 2006.

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From GLW issue 657