By Andrew L. Urban.
The lawfare has begun: the Osman Faruqi v Mark Latham ‘anti white racism’ case began in the Supreme Court of NSW today (16/11/2017) with Tony Morris of QUT students 18C fame, representing Latham. Legal and administrative matters were dealt with by lunchtime and the case was adjourned until March 2018, with a trial expected to begin later in the year.
On his Outsiders program on the internet, Latham had blasted Faruqi for his anti-white racism. In his Statement of Claim Faruqi said Latham defamed him by claiming he “knowingly assists terrorist fanatics who want to kill innocent people in Australia,” and “condones the murder of innocent people by Islamic terrorists.”
In his defence pleadings Latham has submitted 10 pages of Tweets by former Greens staffer turned journalist, Faruqi, in which he says the journalist denigrates white people. At one stage recently, Faruqi tweeted to friend and young Muslim commentator Yassmin Abdel-Magied, “The white people are getting f****d Yas, it’s happening.”
After the hearing, Latham was stoic but he noted that this was an example of “the process is the penalty. But I’m determined to fight it, and it’s not just about my case but about the whole issue,” of reverse racism.
Latham says “they are trying to ruin me financially” and has appealed to supporters of free speech to help.