Ghannouchi v Middle East Online Ltd & Anor
Citation not recorded · Court not recorded · 2020
Summary
Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Tunisian party Ennahdha, was awarded 45000 in general damages for a defamatory online article in Middle East Online that accused his party of being a front for terrorism and receiving illegal funding. Because the defendants failed to file a defence, default judgment was entered. The court weighed the grave nature of the allegations against a very limited UK readership of under 200 people. No special damages or financial losses were claimed.
Key attributes
- Claimant type
- Individual (politician)
- Defendant type
- Media company and individual editor
- Sector
- Politics
- Platform
- Online newspaper
- Serious financial loss
- Not considered
- Causation finding
- The default judgment established liability and serious harm to reputation, but no financial loss causation was claimed or evaluated.
- Claimed loss
- Not recorded
- Accepted loss
- Not recorded
- Total damages
- £45,000
- Turnover band
- Not recorded
- Outcome
- Judgment for the claimant with general damages assessed at 45000.
- Appeal status
- First instance
Why it matters
Provides a benchmark for general damages in cases involving highly severe allegations (terrorism) balanced against an extremely low-circulation, online-only target readership.
What this record does not tell you
- Any field shown as “not recorded” is genuinely absent from the record, not estimated.
- A damages award is not a measure of the claimant's commercial loss and is never used as one.
- Outcomes turn on their own facts; similarity to your situation is a matter for a solicitor.
Judgment metadata is derived from public sources. Analysis is Defametrics' own and is not legal advice.