A defamation lawsuit filed by British-Pakistani PTI activist Shayan Ali against Dunya News is moving towards trial at the High Court in London, with a key hearing expected in the coming days, according to court records.
The case stems from a television broadcast aired on April 2, 2022, in which the channel alleged that Ali attempted to attack former prime minister Nawaz Sharif outside a Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) office near Hyde Park in London. The program further claimed that Ali threw a mobile phone that struck and injured a security guard.
Ali has strongly denied the allegations, maintaining that he neither attacked Nawaz Sharif nor threw his phone. He says he was recording a video outside the PML-N office at the time of the incident. No arrest was made, and no criminal charges were brought against him.
Following the broadcast, Ali lodged a complaint with the United Kingdom’s media regulator, Ofcom. The regulator ruled in his favour, finding that the channel had failed to take reasonable care to ensure fairness and had not provided him with a timely and appropriate opportunity to respond to the allegations.
Ali is seeking nearly £100,000 in damages as the legal proceedings continue before the High Court.
