The Telegraph newspaper has apologised and paid damages to two Muslim parents which it accused of being part of an alleged “Islamist” plot to take over an Oldham school.
Rahman Lowe Solicitors successfully represented Nasim Ashraf and Hafizan Zaman with their defamation claim against The Telegraph over the alleged “Trojan Horse plot.”
The Telegraph published an apology to Mr Ashraf and Mrs Zaman and agreed to pay them libel damages and legal costs. Zillur Rahman of Rahman Lowe Solicitors along with barrister, Mark Henderson of Doughty Street Chambers, acted for them in their claim.
The apology stated: “An article published on 20th February 2017 may have suggested that Mr Nasim Ashraf and Mrs Hafizan Zaman were responsible for a ‘Trojan Horse’ plot involving an Islamist campaign of intimidation to take over Clarksfield Primary School in Oldham with the aim of imposing an aggressive and separatist agenda on the students. We accept that such allegations are unfounded. We apologise to Mr Ashraf and Mrs Zaman for any distress caused and have agreed to pay them damages and costs.”
Ashraf and Zaman said they were extremely pleased with the outcome.
Mr Ashraf said: “We are very pleased that the Telegraph has apologised for what it accepts are completely false allegations. It is important that journalists report responsibly and not become ‘churnalists,’ churning out any baseless accusation. In today’s times, as falsehood is spread quickly on the internet and accepted as true, this responsibility must be exercised with even greater care.
“Hafizan and I have done nothing but positively contribute in a society, which regrettably, finds many reasons to divide communities and it was therefore surprising to us that we had been targeted in this way.
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“Whilst we are pleased and relieved that we have been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Telegraph, our struggle for justice shall continue until we have been vindicated by other media outlets who have also churned out similar defamatory allegations against us.”
