Court clears editor of defaming producer

Case was filed against journalist for reporting incident involving actress’ daughter at Dubai hotel

An editor of a tabloid was yesterday acquitted in a case of publishing news about the private life of an American producer who alleged that it had ruined his reputation.

Mazhar Farooqui, editor of XPRESS, a sister publication of Gulf News, pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court. He maintained that the news article did not intend to smear the reputation of the producer, whose name was never published in the article.

In May 2017, Dubai prosecutors had charged the Indian editor of publishing (print and online) news related to the personal life of the producer/actor, which brought shame to him.

The producer’s lawyer told Dubai Police that a Pakistani actress had filed a criminal complaint accusing his client of abusing her daughter during a children’s talent show and Farooqui sought to have a comment for an article on the incident.

The producer alleged that the actress approached the tabloid for an interview during which she gave fabricated news about him.

When questioned by police and prosecutors, Farooqui admitted that he had published the news and that he was aware of the abuse incident since he was present during the talent show and spotted the actress crying. She told him what had happened after he introduced himself as a journalist.

In his statement, Farooqui also said that the name of the producer or that of his company were never published.

Presiding judge Ayman Mohammad Abdul Hakam acquitted Farooqui on the basis of insufficient and unsubstantiated evidence presented by prosecutors.

Insufficient evidence

“The abuse incident happened in a public place [hotel that hosted the talent show] and in front of an audience. It didn’t happen in a private or confidential place. Besides, the editor did not publish the claimant’s name or that of his company. The actress wanted to have the abuse incident published and so she visited the suspect [editor] at his workplace and provided him with all the required details and documents … her name and photos were published and she was seeking further fame,” he said in his order.

The court deemed that Farooqui had the right to publish the article that contained the exact details with all the required documents and official papers confirming what had happened, without naming the producer. “Prosecutors’ evidence was not corroborated enough to convince the court that the editor had committed a crime by publishing private details about the claimant. However the claimant’s civil lawsuit will be referred to the Dubai Civil Court,” said judge Abdul Hakam.