Authors apologise for Rushdie lies
Salman Rushdie at high court to receive apologies for falsehoods in policeman's 'memoir'
Staff and agencies guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday August 26 2008 12:32 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/26/salmanrushdie
'The end of the matter' ... Salman Rushdie arrives at the High Court this morning. Photograph: Cate Gillon/Getty
Salman Rushdie received an apology in the high court this morning from the writers and publishers of a book about his time under police protection.
Ron Evans, a former police officer who was part of the team protecting Rushdie while he was under a fatwa, made an apology through his solicitor on 11 counts of falsehoods in his book On Her Majesty's Service.
Judge Nigel Teare made a Declaration of Falsity against Evans, his ghostwriter Douglas Thompson, and the publisher of On Her Majesty's Service, John Blake Publishing.
Rushdie, who did not seek damages, said after the hearing: "This has been an unattractive affair. My only interest was to establish the truth. I'm happy that the court has made its declaration of falsity and that the authors and publishers have recognised their falsehoods and apologised. As far as I am concerned that's the end of the matter."
Rushdie also said that he appreciated that for the writers and publishers it was difficult to "stand up in the high court and own up to being a liar".
"I hope it will be an original and new method by which to establish facts rather than going for enormous financial damages," he added. "This was a very satisfactory outcome."
David Sherborne, representing Rushdie, told the judge that Evans met his client while he was living under the strain of a fatwa issued against him by the Iranian regime in 1989 over his book The Satanic Verses.
Evans left the police force following his conviction on nine counts of dishonesty, Sherborne said.
He said Evans's book, and extracts from it published in the Mail on Sunday, contained "many so-called revelations about Sir Salman's home life, his relationship with his wife, son and interactions with police protection officers.
"In addition to the invasion of his privacy which this book represented, of particular concern to the claimant were a series of utterly and demonstrably false statements which it contained."
The statements admitted to be false included:
· That Rushdie was locked in a room by protection officers because of his objectionable attitude towards them;
· That protection officers who asked Rushdie if they could buy alcohol from him were charged for the drinks;
· That Rushdie sought to profit from the fatwa inviting Muslims to kill him for insulting the prophet Muhammad;
· That he sought and was advised by the Intelligence Services not to publish a book about his experiences;
· That safe houses were provided for Rushdie at Government expense, rather than having to provide them himself at great personal expense;
· That the relationship between Rushdie and his protection teams was unprofessional, hostile and unfriendly;
· That Rushdie was unhygienic;
· That Rushdie was suicidal and was being supervised or examined by a police psychiatrist;
· ·That Elizabeth West became his girlfriend and then his wife because of Rushdie's wealth.
Sherborne said: "Allegations of this nature are, of course, highly defamatory and they were particularly offensive to the claimant because they are simply not true.
"In fact, as a number of his protection officers volunteered to testify in the event that this matter came to trial, Sir Salman conducted himself with dignity and courtesy throughout a time of great personal danger and concern."
The book, subtitled My Incredible Life in the World's Most Dangerous Close Protection Squad, was due to be published on August 4. Its publisher John Blake Publishing now hopes to release a revised version later this week.
The publisher, Evans and Thompson are also paying Rushdie's legal costs, estimated at around £15,000. John Blake Publishing has destroyed the first print run of 4,000 copies of the book, and is correcting two chapters.
Geoffrey Robertson QC, who headed the legal team representing Rushdie, said his client had "pioneered a new way of reconciling the right to freedom of speech with the right to reputation - you nail the lie for all time with a court ordered declaration of falsity and you receive your legal costs, but you decline to chill free speech by putting authors and publishers to an expensive trial and making them pay heavy damages".
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