A senior Pakistani military officer has sued a UK-based YouTuber and retired army officer Adil Raja in the London High Court for defamation and damages for running a defamatory campaign against him on YouTube and Twitter, alleging election rigging against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), horse-trading for General (retired) Bajwa, and secret meetings with Asif Ali Zardari to manipulate Punjab by-elections.
Brigadier Rashid Naseer – currently heading the intelligence command of the Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the province of Punjab – has filed an unprecedented defamation action in the UK High Court against Major (retired) Adil Farooq Raja over nearly a dozen YouTube and Twitter publications carrying false and ludicrous allegations.
According to court papers, Major (retired) Adil Raja started his campaign against Brigadier Rashid Naseer on 14 June 2022 when Adil Raja alleged in a tweet that the ISI’s Sector Commander Punjab “has taken complete occupation of the Lahore High Court ” to rig the upcoming elections. On 19 June 2022, Adil Raja alleged that “allegedly ISI Sector Commander Punjab Brig Rashid Naseer had several meetings with Asif Ali Zardari during the latter’s current stay at Lahore. Subject: Elections Manipulation” and he went on to post a link of his YouTube video making further allegations.
Court papers show that Brigadier Rashid Naseer filed a case at the court through his UK lawyers on 11 August 2022 after the retired major made several accusations against the senior military officer in tweets and videos that became viral, gaining thousands of Retweets, likes, and views in tens of thousands.
The defendant Adil Raja confirmed to local media that “Sector Commander ISI internal wing Punjab Brigadier Rashid Naseer has done a defamation case upon me.”
Lawyers have told the UK High Court that Adil Raja “conducted a determined and prolific social media campaign against the Claimant publishing very many Tweets and videos, many of which are seriously defamatory of the Claimant, and all of which, by reason of their content, tone and frequency, have caused the Claimant serious harm”.
In the Vlog, Adil Raja accused the serving military officer of controlling huge funds to ensure PMLN and PDM’s victory in Punjab and Pakistan through manipulation and using corrupt means. He also accused Brigadier Rashid Naseer met Zardari to ensure a maximum number of seats in Punjab so that Bilawal Bhutto could be helped.
Adil Raja went on to accuse the military officer of being involved in politics and “horse-trading for General Bajwa; registering bogus cases against him in Punjab; and being an agent of the regime change plan” in subsequent tweets.
In his defamation claim, the senior military officer denied each and every allegation leveled against him as false and told the court that he had suffered serious damage to his reputation and was likely to suffer further serious damage in the future. The claimant has challenged each and every broadcast by Adil Raja, claiming that the information published was false, based on undisclosed sources, and that there was no justification for publishing such news that had no basis in truth and facts.
Adil Raja, whose full name is Adil Farooq Raja, reached London from Islamabad in April last year following reports that he had gone missing from Islamabad. He left Pakistan after developing differences with his own former organization and since then he has done several controversial broadcasts making allegations about “regime change” conspiracy, naming several serving military officers.
Adil Raja told this reporter that his tweets and vlogs were based on the information “provided by highly placed sources within the Pakistani Establishment”.
He said it was regrettable that the claimant had filed a case “against his fellow officer and countryman on foreign land”. Adil Raja also claimed that his broadcasts were made in the “public interest” and that he had kept in mind the journalistic code of conduct.
Brigadier Rashid Naseer is represented by Dawn Solicitors from Slough, Berkshire, and Adil Raja is represented by attorney Mahtab Anwar Aziz. Mahtab Anwar Aziz is the same attorney who announced in November of last year that Scotland Yard would arrest PMLN leaders Nawaz Sharif and Nasir Butt for conspiring to assassinate Imran Khan and Arshad Sharif.
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