The Sunday Telegraph has paid “substantial damages” to the general secretary of Finsbury Park mosque after it falsely portrayed him as a supporter of violent lslamist extremism as part of a botched attempt to criticise the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. “It was not just myself who was the target of this article, it was Jeremy Corbyn,” said Kozbar after the verdict. It appeared alongside a picture of Corbyn shaking hands with Kozbar, detailed regular meetings between the two men, and quoted the Labour leader as calling the mosque leader “fantastic”. Finsbury Park mosque became infamous for hosting the radical preacher Abu Hamza before it was shut down by the authorities in 2003 over an alleged plot to produce the poison ricin. Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) Mohammed Kozbar, Chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque, with faith and community leaders.

Source: The Guardian May 09, 2018 16:57 UTC