Defamation action against UK MP Naz Shah is won by a PML-N leader.

LONDON: Dr Ashraf Chohan, a PML-N leader and British Pakistani businessman, has won a defamation action against British MP Naz Shah at the London High Court over an allegedly defamatory tweet sent in 2020 during the London BLM demonstrations.

Judge Lewis of the London High Court decided that Dr Chohan had voiced his opinion rather than making a factual assertion that Naz Shah’s support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) meant she condoned vandalism, as represented in the tweeted video.

The issue between the two began after Dr. Chohan sent a Tweet on June 12, 2020, during the height of Black Lives Matter rallies in the United Kingdom following the terrible death of George Floyd by US police.

“Congrats to @NazshahBfd for her support for vandalism,” Chohan tweeted.

The tweet came with a video of a few individuals vandalising a business in a London neighbourhood during the BLM rallies to demonstrate solidarity for the global movement.

Chohan, a Conservative Party member, allegedly said in a tweet that the British Pakistani MP was in favour of “illegal activities, thereby insinuating our client is a criminal by default,” according to Shah’s legal team.

“This meaning is an expression of opinion,” the court declared, according to a copy of the sealed ruling made available with this publication.

The judge assigned Naz Shah chase level 1 for determining the meaning of the tweet, ruling that “the meaning is defamatory to the Claimant at common law.”

The judge decided that the foundation for Dr. Chohan’s assessment, notably Naz Shah’s support for BLM and the disorder that attended some of its rallies, is properly presented. The claimant’s motion for leave to appeal was likewise denied by the judge.

The claimant’s lawyers argued that while Dr Chohan’s tweet does not declare that Naz Shah supports BLM, it does state that she promotes vandalism, and that this is a statement of fact regardless of the claimant’s views.

“The court has issued verdict in my favour that my comment regarding Naz Shah MP was my expression of an opinion,” Ashraf Chohan stated following the judgement. I used my right to free speech to express my thoughts on a topic. Naz Shah’s case against me should be dropped. Thank you to Mark Lewis and John Stables of 5RB, my barrister.”

Dr. Chohan, a Gujranwala native, is the Chairman of Conservative Friends of the NHS (CFNHS) and a director of Conservative Friends of Pakistan (CFOP), and his brother was elected as an MPA from Gujranwala on the PML-N platform.