![[Freelance]](../gif/fl3H.png)
Member loses libel battle with a commander of Pakistan's security service
BRANCH member Adil Raja, a Pakistani former military officer turned whistleblower, has lost a libel case brought by Rashid Naseer, who when he filed the claim was a sector commander and head of the intelligence command of the Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Punjab - Pakistan's most populous province - and is now retired.
Adil Raja on his YouTube channel
The judgment opens thus: “This case has attracted considerable interest, in particular among freelance journalists and members of the Pakistani diaspora based in the United Kingdom.” That it has. So, now, will the ruling that Adil Raja must pay £50,000, with costs yet to be determined.
Adil Raja had told the court that since childhood he had supported Imran Khan - who was prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022 - but when he spoke out against what he called a “regime change operation” against Imran Khan in 2022 he was persecuted. His house was raided twice by the ISI, his mother was abducted by the ISI, his properties were seized as a result of “fictitious cases” registered against him by the ISI, and access to his bank accounts was denied - according to what he was told “on the pressure of the ISI”.
As the judgment notes, his “evidence that his safety would be at risk if he attended the trial was regarded as sufficiently credible by another Judge... to grant the Defendant permission to give evidence remotely at trial.”
Friends of Adil Raja say there was a “premature media campaign in Pakistan declaring victory for the claimant”. Reports were at least prompt after judgment was handed down at 10:30 on 9 October. Frequent mention in them of “more than Rs130 million (£350,000) in damages and legal costs” does suggest a press release from the plaintiff's side.
They see an “alignment between the judgment and the narrative of a foreign state” and believe that “the testimony of Shaheen Sehbai, a veteran journalist with over 40 years of experience, was particularly compelling. Sehbai vouched for the credibility of Raja’s sources, based on his observations over three years.” The court found, however, that “In the round... Mr Sehbai’s evidence does not materially assist the Defendant.”
Friends say that witnesses supporting Adil Raja “faced persistent threats”. They say that the case “underscores a broader pattern of transnational repression, where legal battles abroad are weaponised through domestic media to silence dissent, eroding the line between journalism and state-sponsored narrative control”.
Adil Raja tells the Freelance that the verdict illustrates “why oligarchs and dictators love taking on journalists under the UK libel laws, where the burden of proof lies on the defendant, not the claimant”. He “vows to fight on in this battle - facing bankruptcy - but stays resilient, having a firm belief in his cause.”