Victory for Free Speech Against Lawfare Proponents – Court Orders National Iranian American Council (NIAC) to Pay $183,480.09 to Iranian American Author Hassan Daioleslam

April 12, 2013 – NEW YORK – This past Tuesday, April 9, in a major victory against lawfare proponents, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and its president, Trita Parsi, to pay $183,480.09 to Iranian American Hassan Daioleslam, editor of the website “In Search of Truth: Reports on Mullahs’s lobby in US.” This follows years of litigation, beginning in 2008 when NIAC and Parsi filed a frivolous libel suit against Daioleslam in response to his reporting of Parsi’s and NIAC’s linkages with the Iranian regime, a state sponsor of terrorism.

The conference call briefing with Iranian American author Hassan Daioleslam, originally scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed.
An email containing the new date and call-in details will be sent soon.

The Lawfare Project is hosting a conference call briefing with Hassan Daioleslam on Tuesday, April 16 at 12:00 PM ET. Members of the press, as well as the public, are welcome to participate.

Conference dial-in number: (805) 399-1200

Participant access code: 108325

In fall 2012, the same court granted summary judgment for Daioleslam, dismissing the libel suit. Judge John Bates held that the plaintiffs failed to adduce evidence that Daioleslam “actually harbored any doubts about the correctness of his writings, or willfully blinded himself to the truth,” such that their defamation claim must fail. The court also dismissed the plaintiffs’ false light claim due to their failure to demonstrate that Daioleslam’s statements were made with “actual malice.”

For more information, please contact:

Brooke Goldstein – Brooke@TheLawfareProject.org

Hassan Daioleslam – tehran1957@gmail.com – 602-692-3701