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November 16, 2007

Media: The Libel Tourist

Back in June I wrote of the bizarre situation whereby the British libel courts have been unfairly used to prosecute books that highlight issues of terrorism funding. Under UK libel law, no intention malice is needed to prove a case, and the onus is upon the defendant to prove libel has not been made, rather than the plaintiff needing to prove libel.

The libel laws have been used particularly by Khalid Salim A. Bin Mahfouz. More than 30 publications, authors and publishers have been successfully sued in Britain - even though they produced literature that is not considered "libelous" in the United States. The only person to have challenged these prosecutions is the terror-financing expert (and a personal friend) Dr Rachel Ehrenfeld.

She refused to attend the UK High Court and refused to pay the default fine imposed upon her. She has been fighting Mahfouz in the US courts over issues of jurisdiction - in a suit that will set a precedent for future similar cases. As Mahfouz has acted to hand summons to her at her Manhattan home, demanding that she pay the UK fine, her lawyers have argued over the issue of jurisdiction. This would mean that Mahfouz would have to comply with "discovery" and reveal details of his financial history - the subject of the British libel suit. Additionally - Dr Ehrenfeld is fighting any attempts to pay British fines in the United States that have been imposed by laws that act counter to American rights.

The subject of Mahfouz's suit was the book "Funding Evil" by Rachel Ehrenfeld, which maintained that companies owned by the Saudi banker had sent money to fund terrorism.

The exploitation of another country (Funding Evil was not published in the UK) to prosecute a libel case that would fail in the country where the publication was made, is called "forum shopping" or "libel tourism".

Now a short 9-minute video documentary on Rachel's case has been produced. It is called "The Libel Tourist".

It can be found (English language version) HERE.

The Arabic language version can be found HERE.

Below are the documentary-maker's description and comments of the video.
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ABOUT THE FILM

"The Libel Tourist" is a short-form documentary film produced by the Moving Picture Institute. MPI's short film program seeks to provide filmmakers with the opportunities to display their filmmaking skills while making an impact on behalf of human freedom.

Though it addresses one of the gravest subjects of contemporary political life, it is only 8 minutes long. In those 8 minutes, our eyes are opened to a new and chilling threat: the story of how Saudi petrodollars have cowed, silenced, and almost broken freedom of speech in the West.

The film documents the true story of how an American-Israeli author Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld was ordered to destroy all copies of her book in a country where it had never been published - England - after a notoriously litigious Saudi billionaire sued her in a British court. Ehrenfeld's book Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It, accuses the Saudi billionaire of funding of terrorism.

Now Ehrenfeld is fighting back, counter-suing him in New York, to defend her and our First Amendment rights. She speaks on film for the first time in "The Libel Tourist."

"This film is an eye-opening exposé," says Jared Lapidus, the film's director. "It deals directly with the issues of terrorism, Islamo-fascism, and how it is infringing on our rights in the West, and the U.S. in particular."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 16, 2007 8:44 PM

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