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March 22, 2005
Free Speech in the UK
Here is a story about a disturbing case of a British court punishing free speech produced in the US. Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote a book called Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed and How to Stop It. In the book she claimed Sheik bin Mahfouz has funded Islamic charities that in turn funded terrorism. So Mahfouz sued her in a British court for libel. Thomas Lipscomb reports,
But Ehrenfeld never published "Funding Evil" in the United Kingdom. Fewer than 30 copies entered the United Kingdom, presumably through Internet sales and special orders following its publication in the United States in 2003. And yet she had a default judgment entered against her by British Judge Eady on December 7, 2004, for defamation of Mahfouz. A penalty hearing has been set for April 29 to consider Mahfouz's claim for legal expenses and damages, a retraction by Ehrenfeld of the passages objected to in the suit, and injunctive relief preventing any further appearance of her book in the United Kingdom.
Thankfully we won both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 so Ehrenfeld can ignore Judge Eady.
Posted by Pete at March 22, 2005 02:07 PM
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