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PREDATORY LAWSUIT REBOUNDS BACK ON IRANIAN FRONT GROUP
by Sam Nunberg • Apr 16, 2013 at 11:36 am • updated Apr 17, 2013 at 12:29 am
https://www.legal-project.org/blog/2013/04/predatory-lawsuit-rebounds-back-on-iranian-front Seeking to "hit him hard," the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and acting president Trita Parsi brought a frivolous defamation lawsuit against a critic. Now they face a $183,480.09 fine to his legal defense.On April 8th D.C. District Court Judge John D. Bates ordered this huge penalty because of the abuses which NIAC and Parsi's perpetrated for over two years during discovery (pre-trial phase where parties exchange evidence) in their nuisance suit brought against Hassan Daioleslam, an Iranian immigrant and editor of the Iranian American Forum. Mr. Daioleslam's 2007 writings had exposed NIAC and Parsi's illicit public relation campaign on behalf of Tehran. In April, 2008 Parsi and NIAC filed Trita Parsi and National Iranian American Council v. Seid Hassan Daioleslam against Mr. Daioleslam. In their defamation suit, Parsi and NIAC alleged that Mr. Daioleslam's investigative research and writings portrayed them in a false light. The Legal Project, an activity of the Middle East Forum which works to protect the right in the West to freely discuss Islamist terrorism and other related issues, coordinated Mr. Daioleslam's pro bono representation by Sidley Austin LLP. Leading Mr. Daioleslam's defense, Senior Litigation Partner Timothy Kapshandy requested an array of documents and schedules from NIAC and Parsi to establish that Mr. Daioleslam's work was merited. This phase of the litigation lasted over two years and was delayed by Parsi and other NIAC staff's deliberate abuses. These abuses include:
"Most disturbingly, plaintiffs apparently gathered emails for their experts that they failed to produce to defendant, which clearly shows that plaintiffs' statement at the motions hearing that "[t]here may be technical explanations" for the failure to produce these documents is untrue." NIAC and Parsi's defeat follows a heartening trend of these predatory lawsuits financially costing the abuser. In 2006, the Council of Islamic Relations not only had its defamation suit against Andrew Whitehead dismissed with prejudice, but also reached a "mutually agreeable settlement" in Mr. Whitehead's favor. In 2007, Riad Elsolh Hamad's frivolous defamation suit against Daniel Pipes was dismissed and Hamad was ordered to pay Mr. Pipes' legal costs. These cases should all stand as warnings to Islamists seeking to abuse the legal system as a sword and shield to silence their critics. The costs can be high for them. receive the latest by email: subscribe to the legal project's free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL. |
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