Criminal defamation case studies

Ecuador: President Launches Suit against Journalist
In May 2007, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa filed a criminal defamation suit against Francisco Vivanco Riofrío, the President of the daily newspaper La Hora for publishing an editorial on the March 2007 referendum crisis which he claimed to be defamatory and of “moral damage” to his reputation.

Jordan: First Woman Parliamentarian sentenced to 18 months imprisonment
Toujan Faisal was the first woman to be elected to the Jordanian Parliament in 1993. On 6 March 2002 Al Faisal published an open letter to King Abullah II on accusing the Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb of
corruption. She was subsequently charged with defamation and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.

Russia: The Case of Eduard Abrosimov
In June 2005, Eduard Abrosimov, journalist and advisor of the former governor of Saratov region, was sentenced to seven months imprisonment for defamation for an article written anonymously under the cover of a pseudonym. Despite the sentence handed down, it was never officially proven that Abrosimov actually wrote the article.

Senegal: Defamation Rulings Continue Unabated
Senegal has one of the worst records for prosecution of criminal defamation in Africa. Senegalese courts regularly hand-down disproportionate rulings to journalists, often imposing both prison sentences and heavy fines. President Wade had pledged to decriminalise defamation in 2004, but to this day has still yet to take steps to meet his promise.

Thailand: Klangnarong, Activist v. Thaksin, Corporate Giant & Prime Minister
In March 2006, NGO activist and media campaigner Supinya Klangnarong won a landmark victory in a criminal defamation case. The case had been filed by the then Thaksin’s company Shin Corp, in response to Klangnarong’s comments published in the Thai Post asserting that Thaksin had pursued policies that benefited his family run company, Shin Corp.

Civil defamation case studies

Indonesia
Time magazine was ordered to pay Indonesia’s former president Suharto 1 trillion Indonesian Rupiahs (US$106 million) in damages for defamation. Time published a cover story alleging that Suharto had amassed a fortune of US$15 billion during his tenure, including US$9 billion which was placed in an Austrian bank account.

South Korea
The South Korean Presidential Office filed a libel suit against the opposition party’s presidential candidate, Lee Myung-bak, just three months before the general election. The opposition leader was sued for trying to tarnish the government’s reputation after he made claims that the government was trying to politicise the national security and tax branches of the civil service. Lee is now the president of South Korea.

Russia
The Kommersant daily newspaper was ordered by a Russian judge to pay US$34,274 to Andrei Lugovoy for offending his honour and business reputation. The newspaper had reported the UK’s attempts at extraditing Lugovoy for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned with radioactive polonium in London.

Singapore
Civil defamation is exploited to bankrupt opposition politicians such as Chee Soon Juan, who are consequently banned from running for office in Singapore. Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong even sued the Far Eastern Economic Review for defamation after it called the opposition leader a ‘martyr’ for facing so many defamation suits brought by the governing party.

Philippines
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband Jose Arroyo announced that he would drop 17 defamation suits against 46 journalists after surviving open-heart surgery, stating that he wanted to “stay in touch with God for giving him a new lease on life”. Arroyo had filed multiple defamation cases totalling US$3.2 million over reports linking him to corruption, smuggling and other scandals. During one courtroom appearance, Arroyo allegedly challenged one lawyer to a fistfight.

Spain
The Popular Party’s general secretary Carlos Sáiz sued Spanish newspaper La Realidad for defamation. After La Realidad filed for bankruptcy, a judge ordered the former editor to pay 12 per cent of his disability pension to Sáiz. Unable to pay the damages and suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the former editor could no longer afford legal representation. After his lawyer stopped turning up to court, the judge froze the former editor’s bank account.

Morocco
The publisher of the weekly magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire resigned in order to stop defamation damages from bankrupting his publication. Publisher Jamaï and former reporter Fahd al-Iraqi were ordered to pay US$354,000 in damages to Claude Moniquet, head of the Brussels-based European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center.

USA
Two employees of the Kane County Chronicle newspaper counter-sued the entire Illinois Supreme Court for violating their constitutional rights. The Illinois Chief Justice had been awarded a huge US$7 million after winning a defamation case. The two Chronicle staff claimed that the case was unfair as the Chief justice himself headed the hearing, and the witnesses called were his fellow Supreme Court colleagues.

United Kingdom
Parenting website mumsnet.com paid defamation costs to celebrity parenting advisor Gina Ford for comments that appeared on the website’s forum. Ford sued after members of the public posted sarcastic comments on the forum accusing her of "strapping babies to rockets and firing them into South Lebanon".

India
Businesses in India are becoming increasingly more aware of staff venting their frustrations on the internet. The Hindu newspaper has found that companies are increasingly resorting to legal action and claiming defamation damages from their employees. Managers have now been tasked with discovering who is talking.

United Kingdom
American actress Cameron Diaz won substantial damages for defamation in London’s High Court. Diaz had sued American Media Incorporated for a story in the National Enquirer that alleged that she was having an affair. As the story never appeared in the UK edition of the newspaper, Mr Justice Eady awarded the damages on the basis that the story was briefly published on an American website which was potentially accessed by visitors from the UK.

For more information see the publication Civil Defamation: Undermining Free Expression.