British businessman Mohamed Amersi has won lost the first hurdle in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC.
Amersi, who is a Conservative party donor, sued the BBC after its flagship documentary series “Panorama” accused him of being “involved in one of Europe’s biggest corruption scandals.” He also sued over an article published on the BBC News website on Oct. 4, 2021.
According to the documentary makers, he was “involved” in a suspicious $220 million payment made to an offshore company 14 years ago. They found his name in the Pandora Papers leak, which detailed numerous offshore financial firms in far-flung locations, including Panama and Singapore.
According to the BBC program, Amersi was implicated in a bribe involving the daughter of former Uzbekistan president Islam Karmov. At one point, even the U.S. Department of Justice was involved in tracking the dealings of a Swedish telecoms company called Telia for whom Amersi worked as a consultant between 2007 and 2013.
“Panorama” worked on the investigation alongside the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Guardian. The documentary aired in October 2021.
In Amersi’s lawsuit, which was filed in October 2023, he said his “established reputation as an anti-corruption campaigner” has been “seriously undermined and damaged” by the documentary.
Amersi was seeking damages up to £100,000, an injunction and an order under s.12 Defamation Act 2013 requiring the publication of a summary of the court’s judgment.
“I came away with the impression that the Programme was making very serious allegations about the claimant, his involvement with Telia and the source of his wealth,” the judge said in court documents obtained by Variety.
The BBC can still try and defend the program and article by claiming that their claims were true.
The BBC did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
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