Author Salman Rushdie Files Libel Suit—and Wins—Within 1 Month

Trials & Litigation

Author Salman Rushdie Files Libel Suit—and Wins—Within 1 Month

Posted Aug 27, 2008, 12:07 pm CST
By Martha Neil

In a unusually speedy resolution of a libel suit that may serve as a model for others, author Salman Rushdie received a public apology from a defendant yesterday in London's High Court and a formal declaration from a judge that claims made in a book about him were false.

Salman Rushdie filed suit earlier this month against a former bodyguard and his publisher after a United Kingdom newspaper published excerpts of the book. It was to have been published later this month, but has been withdrawn. Instead of insisting on damages, however, Rushdie agreed to settle for an apology and retraction, in order to speed resolution of the case, reports the Washington Post. He is also having his legal costs covered by the defendants, as is standard in British court.

The award-winning author's legal counsel described London as the libel capital of the world, and said he could have won a substantial tax-free award if he had pursued his case in a standard fashion. But Rushdie said he thought the approach he took was the more effective way of protecting his reputation.

"Instead of going for the megabucks, you simply go to court for the important thing, which is to establish what's true and what's not," the author explains. "I think it's a clearer and simpler way of dealing with this."

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