PIAC represented Mr Romzi Ali in a defamation case against Nationwide News Pty Ltd, which published articles claiming that Mr Ali had raised money for the terrorist organisation, Laskar Jihad.

A jury found the articles were defamatory. Mr Ali had worked tirelessly to ease tensions after the Bali bombing in 2002, earning respect within his own community and among his broader local community. The court found that the unsubstantiated allegations in The Australian had a profound impact on Mr Ali’s life, damaging his reputation and leaving him ‘frightened, alarmed, shaken and broken.’

Mr Ali’s damages were increased when he  appealed to the Court of Appeal, from $125,000 to $275,000.

The Court of Appeal found that the effect of the articles was “catastrophic or close to catastrophic on the appellant’s world” and that Nationwide News’ failure to apologise to Mr Ali further aggravated the damage that he suffered.

The Court also found that the trial judge, Justice James, “did not do justice” to the “high degree of gravity” of the imputations, which had “turned [Mr Ali’s] whole world upside down” and “struck at the heart of the public position he had taken”.

Nationwide News’s application for leave to appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeal to the High Court was refused in February 2009.

Further information: Ali v Nationwide News  Pty Limited [2007] NSWSC 58 (15 March 2007)

Ali v Nationwide News  Pty Ltd [2008] NSWCA 183 (8 August 2008)

Mr Ali was represented in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court by PIAC and by Mr Tom Molomby SC and Mr Roger Rasmussen of Frederick Jordan Chambers.