ISLAMABAD/LONDON - Fugitive Pakistani Youtuber Major (retd) Adil Raja has accepted before London High Court that most of the publications he published on his social media channels were capable of being defamatory of a serving senior Pakistani Military Officer who has taken legal action over defamation at the UK Royal Courts of Justice. This included a tweet alleging that the Military Officer’s colleagues were going to kill him and Raja’s encouragement of terrorism against the serving military officer.
Just over an hour before the hearing was due to start at the London High Court, Adil Raja through his barrister, admitted that what he was publishing and promoting was defamatory at common law and accepted nearly all the meanings advanced by the lawyers acting for the serving Pakistan Military Officer.
Incidentally, Adil Raja's barrister charged him just £5,400 including VAT for the hearing, which was subsequently adjourned. This is in stark contrast to what Adil Raja and his wife, Sabine Kiyani, stated on Twitter when promoting his public fundraising for this case. They alleged that the barrister was charging £20-25,000 for every hearing. These tweets were published just 6 days after the hearing in which the barrister only charged Adil Raja £5,400 for the hearing.
The case was started in London around eleven months ago by the serving Brigadier after Adil Raja published several false and defamatory statements on his Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts making false and baseless accusations against the Brigadier who is posted in Punjab in a sensitive position.
The Military Officer has sued Adil Raja, telling the court that the fugitive retired Major has deliberately lied about him to cause him harm and to make money through fake news publications on social media. It was after the launch of the defamation case by the Pakistan Military Officer that social media giants YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp had banned Adil Raja for spreading fake news and for incitement of violence. The UK anti-terrorism police has put Adil Raja on bail for incitement of terrorism through his social media posts.
The Military Officer has sued Adil Raja over 10 publications in total. Adil Raja’s barrister accepted the serving Pakistan Officer’s claims that most of the publications were capable of being defamatory at common law. Legal sources said Adil Raja made the admissions before the court on advice of his UK lawyer who told him he had no choice but to accept this before the court.
The decorated Pakistan Military Officer, who heads ISI Punjab, took legal action against Adil Raja after the fugitive made the following false allegations against him: that the serving officer was manipulating the political system by taking control of the Lahore High Court; that the officer had several meetings with Asif Ali Zardari during his stay on the subject of election in the ISI and Pakistan army and that such is his conduct that he will be eliminated at the right time by soldiers working covertly leaking information about his movements and actions; that the officer is part of a meticulously contrived process set up by military and intelligence officers to rig elections in Pakistan who has been abusing his position, using unaccounted substantial funds to ensure the victory of PDM and PMLN, lying and manipulating elections in Pakistan, using corrupt and unethical means to rig the elections to prevent PTI from winning the election through an election cell; that the officer registered a fake case against the defendant; that the officer was manipulating the police against him; that the office is involved in political interference; that the officer registered a complaint against Adil Raja in order to defame him and prevent him receiving his identity card and passport because Adil Raja had exposed his plans to rig elections and this was how the officer, a fraudster from Lahore, operates; a fake case against Adil Raja was registered; and the serving officer played a prominent role in regime change and his corrupt practices have made him a billionaire. All of these allegations are vehemently denied by the Officer.
Major (retd) Adil Raja started his campaign against the Officer on 14 June 2022 in Tweets and YouTube broadcasts. Court papers show that the Military Officer filed his case at the court through his UK lawyers on 11 August 2022.
In his defamation claim, the senior Military Officer has denied each and every allegation against him as false and told the court that he had suffered serious harm to his reputation and was likely to suffer further serious harm in the future.
Adil Raja, whose full name is Adil Farooq Raja, reached London from Islamabad in April 2022. He was arrested by UK counter terrorism police in June 2023 from Chesham where he lives. He has been bailed and is now under investigation for inciting terrorism inside Pakistan.