2008 May 14

Abou-Khalil c Diop, 2008 QCCS 1921

The Quebec Superior Court awarded the plaintiff $100,000 moral damages and $25,000 punitive damages over defamatory articles published on an Internet website which falsely alleged the plaintiff had been arrested at the airport in Paris, France, in possession of two suitcases containing 8 million Euros and was trafficking in shares. The defendant also published the same allegations during a radio broadcast in Senegal. The Court held the defendant had invented and fabricated these allegations and ruled that the plaintiff had never been involved in the sale of foreign shares or any other type of illegal business. The Court also noted that the defamatory statements appeared on a blog much visited by people connected to Senegal. This decision is on appeal to the Quebec Court of Appeal.