Threats, lies and videos: Journalist under attack
A first person account of how malicious propaganda was used to discredit investigative journalism
It may sound glamorous but investigative journalism is fraught with challenges every step of the way. Scores worldwide have been jailed (some are still imprisoned) or faced investigation because of my stories in Gulf News. Every day I get threatening calls from computer-generated numbers. Recently, I got 20 in one night. Eventually, I had to switch off my phone. I have been implicated in a string of bogus cases and have even spent a night in a police cell.
The intimidation never stops. Last fortnight, a UK resident released a YouTube video claiming he has sued me in the High Court of Justice in London for defamation, slander and libel, although what he’s done is merely submitted an online claim form.
In his 20-minute video, the man talks about how I violated the ethics of journalism. But he conveniently skips the fact that his real brother, Aziz Com Mirza, who’s the subject of the story (Aziz Com Mirza arrested in Dubai for fraud), is behind bars in Dubai since October 27 and facing charges for the very crimes which my investigations uncovered (Serialentrepreneur in Dubai accused of being serial scammer) in April this year. Before his arrest, Com Mirza posted a video on Instagram challenging me to come out with proof within 24 hours. I did not respond to his post but many of his 800,000 odd followers did by trolling me for days on end. On November 14, another video surfaced on YouTube. This one was from India and showed a bespectacled man openly threatening me for my reports on the dodgy Heera Group (Investors panic as Heera Group chairperson is arrested in India) which peddled a Ponzi scheme as a legitimate investment opportunity to wipe out the savings of nearly a million people including many in the UAE.
The gentleman in the video claims I work for Indian politician Asaduddin Owaisi and hatched a conspiracy with him to destroy the India-based Heera Group. Curiously, its CEO Nowhera Shaik, who faked awards to win trust of investors, has thousands of complaints against her and was already in jail when I first wrote about her (How Heera Group’s managing director Nowhera Shaikh faked awards to gain trust). One year on, she’s still in prison.
Called all sorts of names
Since the video, Heera Group supporters have been relentlessly abusing me on Twitter. Most of these trolls seem to have joined Twitter in November with the sole intention of attacking me and the only people they follow are other trolls.
As part of a malicious campaign, they have tagged UAE authorities, Rulers and Gulf News on hundreds of abusive and absurd posts demanding action against me. Among other things I have been called a pimp, thief and a member of Owaisi’s party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) disguised as a Gulf News journalist. Talk of conspiracy theories!
The truth is that I don’t know Owaisi or any of his party member and am yet to visit Hyderabad where his party is headquartered.
I have been also accused of taking bribes from Owaisi to write misleading reports about Heera. Some tweets are also calling for an urgent financial audit of my bank accounts.
Yes, I have been offered bribes many times. Some time back a man offered me a million dirhams, another offered an SUV while yet another left a box containing the new iPhone. I ought to have been lolling in luxury by now.
In the midst of all this, Indian recruitment portal Wisdom Jobs issued me a “24-hour ultimatum” after I reported how they are back to peddling fake jobs. (UAE: Recruitment portal Wisdom Jobs busted for fraud targets job seekers again) Wisdom Jobs CEO Ajay Kolla along with 13 others were arrested by Hyderabad Police in January 2019 for defrauding thousands of jobseekers following a Gulf News report: Gulf News uncovers global job racket, which blew the lid of their multimillion dollar global recruitment racket. Back in business, Wisdom Jobs is now dangling over 280,000 non-existent jobs in UAE. Yet it’s me who they are accusing of “using cheap tricks in the name of journalism” for sensationalism.
Does all of this get to me? Yes, at times. Does it waver my resolve? Hell, no!
Around the world, the threat people in our profession face is far more visceral. To stop journalists from exposing uncomfortable truths, criminals routinely engage in overt, sometimes violent, efforts to discredit their work and intimidate them into silence. Which is why it’s important to combat disinformation against journalists. Even if we don’t want to debunk the lies, we still need to do it for the sake of our core audience.
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Convicted globe-trotting fraudster and Egyptian accomplice arrested and deported following investigative series on their bogus CULA Liquidity Programme.
14 staffers, including CEO Ajay Kolla of Indian fake job portal Wisdom Jobs, arrested in January 2019.
Ajman Freezone alerts police about supposedly dead Pakistani Chaudhary Hayyab Arif Kamboh following report on how he came back to life to scam overseas companies. Investigation ordered into Dh15.38 million rice export scam.
Canadian (Com Mirza) behind get-rich-quick schemes who was exposed in April 2019 is arrested in October.
Sharjah Police arrest 17 Asians for gambling and betting in public after expose Indian police orders probe against Heera Group CEO Nowhera Shaik.
Four arrested following report on trading scam.
Pakistan chief justice takes suo motto notice of Axact fake degree scandal following report on their call centre agents impersonating UAE officials to extort money.
Dodgy forex firm Exential’s scheme thwarted. CEO Sydney Lemos is arrested and sentenced to over 500 years in jail.
Job scam: UAE authorities crack down on recruitment firms offering bogus job.