Muslim charity accepts substantial damages from Times newspaper for false 'trafficking' claims
The Times of London has agreed to pay £50,000 ($69,000) in damages and legal costs to a Muslim charity it falsely accused of colluding with human traffickers.
In December 2020, the Times alleged that the London-based Al-Khair Foundation was working with human traffickers to help Somali migrants reach Europe.
The UK High Court on Thursday said the Times agreed to pay the charity and its founder, Imam Qasim Rashid Ahmad, for damages and accepted the article was "damaging and defamatory".
"We accept that these allegations were and are untrue, and we apologise to the Al-Khair Foundation and its trustees," the Times said in the High Court statement.
"We have agreed to pay damages and legal costs to Al-Khair and its founding trustee, Imam Qasim," it added.
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Commenting on the case, Ahmad told the Press Association it was a "big relief" to have settled the case.
"I'm feeling quite pleased with the outcome. It was sad that we went through it, but it is good that the truth has come out," said Ahmad.
"It would have been better if they [The Times] would have given us more time to respond. They gave us literally just a few hours, which was not enough.
"If they would have checked the facts properly, that would have been fantastic, and we would have avoided all this hassle."
He added that "100 percent" of the damages he personally received would be used to fund Al-Khair's charitable activities.
Founded in 2003 by Ahmad, the Al-Khair Foundation has distributed almost $276m in aid across the world for the past 10 years.
In December 2020, the Times paid £30,000 ($40,500) in libel damages to former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg and CAGE, the London-based advocacy organisation, after it linked them to an attack in Reading.
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