Iraqi Court Rules Guardian Defamed Nouri Al-Maliki, Iraq Prime Minister

The Guardian:

An Iraqi court has ordered the Guardian to pay Nouri al-Maliki damages of 100m dinar (£52,000) after supporting a complaint by the Iraqi prime minister's intelligence service that he had been defamed by a Guardian story in April describing him as increasingly autocratic.

Read the whole story: The Guardian

Comments

[vascopyjama]

10:27 PM on 11/11/2009

Iraqi court. Ha!

[RTIII]

09:54 PM on 11/11/2009

I'm not sure if this is Islamic, Arabic, or what, but there seems to be a pattern or inability of Islamic / Arabic peoples to understand that people are free to ridicule others and you have to just take it, especially as a politician.

There are laws about defamation, liable, and slander in the West, but these have to do with the destruction of economic value through the use of lies. There is no economic value (properly) placed on the actions of a politician within their government - or a cleric in their religion / religious capacity. Therefore, such concepts don't apply.

And, of course, The Guardian isn't local to them so even if he was defamed, Iraqi claims against them are pointless.

...Islamic / Arabic peoples need to learn to accept criticism to their face. It is a cultural necessity of the modern world and without it you cannot truly embrace modernity.
.

[holeybuybull]

03:26 PM on 11/11/2009

Doesn't this belong in the Comedy section? Is it even possible to defame a puppet?

[dems08]

11:26 AM on 11/11/2009

nuts