KARACHI, JAN 15 (DNA): Chief Editor of Norway’s extreme-right tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) and its reporter Rolf John Widerøe have been declared as proclaimed offenders by a court in Pakistan over their deliberate failure to appear before the court for publishing a false and defamatory story on Pakistan and Pakistani origin businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor.
Judge Abid Zubair, Additional District and Session court in Ferozwala, has declared Widerøe and the chief editor as proclaimed offenders through the court declaration published in leading English dailies of Pakistan — over after the failure of Widerøe and the VG Editor to earlier notices, sent and served in Norway at the address of the tabloid.
Both of them refused to appear before the court and failed to provide any evidence to back up their libellous story after the court issued summons in November last year.
The published notice says: “Whereas service of the defendant is not going to be effected through ordinary means. So, service of defendants is affected by proclamation in the newspaper. You, defendants are directed to appear in the Court in person or through counsel failing which, ex-parte proceedings shall be initiated against you. Given under my hand and the seal of this Court. Additional District judge, Ferozewala. (25783171262).”
Dubai-based business tycoon Zahoor sued VG and its reporter Widerøe for publishing a defamatory and vindictive article against him, in which facts were allegedly concealed to harm his reputation and services for Pakistan in the form of bringing millions of dollars in direct foreign investment to Pakistan.
Zahoor’s lawyers have accused the right-wing tabloid of targeting the businessman “with malicious intent for the last fifteen years by publishing defamatory articles” and for “witch hunting” since long and that the main reason for orchestrating this false campaign is “Islamophobia, racism and your personal score against our client.”
The lawyers have highlighted that the tabloid’s personalised campaign is biased and Islamophobic as it has deliberately hidden key facts while attacking Zahoor. It has rejected allegations of fraud by Zahoor in the Nordea Bank Norway fraud case.
The letter says: “A case was registered at Norway in the year 2010 wherein certain officials of Nordea Bank of Norway, in collusion with some private persons, fraudulently deprived one Randi Nelson of a colossal sum of money and transferred the said amount to the banks in UAE and Norway. It is worth mentioning here that our client has never been to Norway since 2005 whereas the alleged occurrence took place in the year 2010. The Law Enforcement Agencies of Norway initially initiated the investigation in the year 2011. The persons involved in the crime were prosecuted in Norway and some were punished and some of them were acquitted.”
“That our client was also made part of investigation for merely having connection with the persons at UAE allegedly involved in the said fraud and due to passing by remarks of the judge who conducted the trial of Nordea Bank fraud. The aforesaid remarks were passed without any proof of involvement of our client in the fraud. It was for this reason that the decision and remarks of the judge were turned over by the Appellate Court. The investigation initiated against our client was closed in the year 2013 due to lack of evidence. It is astonishing that neither the news of closure of investigation nor the turning over of the remarks of the trial judge was reported by your tabloid.”
The defamation lawsuit informs that the Norwegian authorities reopened the investigation in 2015 and obtained a Red Warrant of “our client from INTERPOL but the Law Enforcement Agency at the UAE refused to hand over custody of Zahoor to the Norwegian authorities” as the Norway prosecution failed to provide any evidence regarding involvement of Zahoor in the alleged crime.
The lawsuit to VG tabloid says it deliberately didn’t tell its readers that the Presiding Judicial Officer, namely Arild Nesdal, who gave passing remarks against Zahoor, relied upon by the tabloid, while awarding a sentence to one of the accused in the alleged fraud has himself been convicted in child pornography offences.
The charge against Nesdal was of downloading and possessing objectionable images and videos relating to sexual abuse of children — leading to his conviction.
