| Legal charges by Dockrat family impelled Daily Maverick apology |
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Radio Islam has discovered
that the Daily Maverick issued apologies and retraction under threat of legal
action by the Dockrat family. Radio Islam is in possession of lengthy
correspondence between the attorneys Shaheed Dollie Inc, representing
Mr Farhad Ahmed Dockrat and Webber Wentzel Attorneys and Lawyers
representing the Daily Maverick alluding to an apology issued
solely to save themselves from a litany of charges.
Retraction
of what is now known to be a fabricated exposé about Al Qaeda activities within
a South African Muslim family and the South African Muslim community was issued
by the Daily Maverick yesterday. The story together with its damning
consequences was splayed over front-pages when it broke and ran as headline news
on radio stations, particularly Radio 702’s EWN.
Amongst the issues related
to the defamation suit against Mr Farhad Dockrat, (Shaheed Dollie Inc,
Attorneys at Law) stated:
The nature of the
defamatory statements in this article is unlike a regular defamatory article of
and concerning an individual. It is infused with strong racial stereotyping,
anti-Muslim sentiments including xenophobic hate speech, which require special
application of the principle of damages to our law of
defamation.
In so far as demands made
by the clients of Mr Dollie:
“We are instructed to
record (with prejudice), that in spite of the [R 3,000, 000.00] damages
claim herein, our client’s damages may well be reduced significantly (in which
case our client may decide not to proceed with any action) should the Daily
Maverick and Potgieter jointly offer an unqualified apology in respect of the
article, and retract the allegations made therein, provided that the wording of
the short apology is prepared by our client. Whether you wish to remove the
defamatory article from your website is a matter for you to consider.”
Legal representatives of
the Daily Maverick and De Wet Potgieter acknowledged their client’s received the
letter of demand on the 17th May. Daily Maverick published the
article by De Wet Potgieter titled “Al-Qaeda: Alive and well in South Africa” on
13 May 2013.
Their apology included the
following statements:
“After an exhaustive
internal process, we now can acknowledge that there were inaccuracies in
relation to Farhad and Junaid Dockrat in the article and we wish to set the
record straight. Our article suggested these links and also that there is a
strong Al-Qaeeda presence in South Africa. We unequivocally and unconditionally
apologise to Farhad and Junaid Dockrat and the Muslim community of South Africa
and retract this allegation. We regret the inconvenience and distress it has
caused to Farhad and Junaid Dockrat and the Dockrat family.
We have, under the
circumstances, and in the interest of good and ethical investigative journalism,
agreed to remove the article from our website.”
Details of the
defamation claim to follow. Radio Islam
International.
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