Daily Telegraph apologises and pays damages to Nectar Trust and its Trustees over false allegations of links to terrorism
The publisher of the Daily Telegraph has published full apologies and paid substantial libel damages, plus costs, to Nectar Trust and its Trustees. Nectar is a charity registered in England and Wales focused on making a sustainable and meaningful impact on communities, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender or race.
The claim arose from articles published on 17 August and 19 October 2019 in the print edition of the Daily Telegraph and online on its website, which falsely alleged that there were grounds to question the independence of Nectar Trust (a UK charity), arising out of its relationship with a Qatar-based charity called Qatar Charity Qatar (QCQ). QCQ had been designated as a terrorist organisation by Saudi Arabia and certain of its regional allies (in what is widely perceived as a political move), but crucially not by the United Kingdom, the EU or the United Nations.
In fact, as the Telegraph has now accepted, there is no reason to question the independence of Nectar Trust, nor is there any reason to suggest that the charity or its trustees are (or have ever been) in any way supported by, or supportive of, any terrorist or extremist organisation. Indeed the Charity Commission has confirmed that it has no active case concerning Nectar, and has pointed out that the designation of QCQ as a terrorist organisation had “no legal standing in the UK”.
As well as publishing full apologies on its website and in the print edition of the newspaper, the Telegraph has also paid substantial damages, as well as paying Nectar’s costs. The Trustees will be donating their damages to Nectar Trust.
Nectar Trust and its Trustees were represented by Adam Tudor and Helena Shipman of Carter-Ruck, together with Khalid Sofi of Lee Bolton MonierWilliams.