Grand mufti sues Daily Telegraph over depiction of him as the three ‘unwise’ monkeys
The allegedly defamatory front page over which legal action has been launched.
News Corp Australia tabloid The Daily Telegraph is being sued by the grand mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed over a front page that showed him as the three “unwise” monkeys.
The Guardian Australia is reporting Mohammed has filed legal action for defamation over the front page over the November 18 front page which ran with the headline “The unwise mufti – sees no problem, hears no concerns, speaks no english”.
A statement of claim was filed in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Friday is reported to allege the Sydney tabloid left the impression that he was “an apologist for the terrorist attacks in Paris and a supporter of “violent Islamic holy war” who had chosen not to attend a vigil after the attacks.
The Daily Telegraph, written story by Matthew Benns and Miles Godfrey, stated Mohammed had shown a “stubborn refusal to condemn the Paris terror attacks”, despite statement by the mufti two days after the 13 November attacks saying he “mourn[ed] the loss of innocent lives” and conveyed his “deepest condolences to the families and friends of the deceased”.
The lawsuit is suing for general and aggravated damages and that tabloid newspaper be required to take the stories be down from the internet.
Read the full story on the Guardian Australia.
It seems to me typical of News Ltd to confuse editorial with news. So mant Mews Ltd publications seem to have forgotten the value of objectivity and news. Most seem to be full of comment and spin. A very good reason not to read them in my view.
PS – this is comment not news.
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It’s disgusting that front pages like this are approved at all
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Paul Whittaker might have moved on, but the bad odour of his disastrous time as editor of the Telegraph lingers on. Whittaker must go down as one of the worst newspaper editors Australia has ever seen, possibly matched by the dreadful performance of Michelle Grattan at The Canberra Times in the early 1990s.
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Good. And I agree with Trunking Symbols — Paul Whittaker took the Tele to a new low, in both editorial standards and readership numbers.
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If they want this paper to be of service they should print it on embossed 2-ply.
Then I might buy it.
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I weep for the death of the trees that were used to build such a rag of a newspaper.
The scary thing is that it sells. So is it really just a reflection of a large percentage of the Australian population? If so, even sadder.
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Q) Would all of the bleeding hearts above be saying the same comments if this was a picture of George Pell?
A) No.
You can’t pick and choose when to be outraged, either everybody is fair game or no one is fair game.
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Danny, care to share one of the george pell covers that sinks to the levels of that tele cover?
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Good luck getting any cash out of the Daily Tele.
They’ll just claim it was written due to ‘ causative factors’. The main one being the Mufti’s original inadequate response to the Paris Attacks.
Or maybe the article was lost in translation? That can happen apparently.
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