Multivision's Nazerali testifies about his suffering
2015-04-15 20:46 ET - Street Wireby Mike Caswell
Aly Nazerali testified Wednesday afternoon that the suffering he has endured after statements on the Deep Capture website are "the cruelest form of torture." He said they have affected his personal life, business life and his health. Business transactions have gone nowhere, and he requires medications to sleep, he said. Even his children are affected, as they are asked about it from time to time, he told the court.
Mr. Nazerali is testifying as part of a lawsuit he filed against the website Deep Capture. He claims that statements on the site wrongfully accused him of being a drug dealer, terrorist, fraud artist and gangster, among other things. The defendants include short-selling conspiracy theorist Patrick Byrne and journalist Mark Mitchell, who contest his allegations and are fighting the case.
Mr. Nazerali, who has been in the witness stand for much of the first three days of the trial, resumed testifying Wednesday afternoon. His lawyer, Dan Burnett, asked him to describe the effects the Deep Capture statements have had on his life. Mr. Nazerali compared them with a jail sentence. "A person can be jailed, he has a date in sight ... Internet defamation of this type is like a perpetual sentence," he told the court.
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He said he constantly receives questions on a social level, and on a business level the effect "has been devastating." He testified that projects do not pass the first or second level of discussions. His family members have also been affected, as the name Nazerali is not a common one, he said.
After those comments, the defence lawyer, Roger McConchie, began his cross-examination of Mr. Nazerali. He spent a large portion of the afternoon having Mr. Nazerali confirm dates, travel and other business associations. Among the things he asked him about were meetings he had in London with notorious Canadian Irving Kott.
Mr. Nazerali confirmed that he had met with Mr. Kott and others in London in late 1984. The meeting, which took place at the St. James Club, was to discuss the sale of a Dutch company called First Commerce Securities. Mr. McConchie also asked Mr. Nazerali about his efforts to perform due diligence on First Commerce, with Mr. Nazerali confirming that he had looked at its financial statements. Mr. McConchie asked about the ownership of First Commerce as well. Mr. Nazerali told the court that a Bahamian lawyer, Dawson Roberts, was the owner of First Commerce. He was not sure, however, if Mr. Roberts was the only owner. He also confirmed that the discussions included Mr. Kott.
Another topic Mr. McConchie covered was Mr. Nazerali's travel to Iran. Mr. Nazerali testified that he travelled to Iran many times over a period of one or two years on business. He also confirmed that he had met with officials of state-owned companies while he was there. (Mr. McConchie did not put his questions in any context, but the only other mention of Iran in the case came Tuesday, from one of the Deep Capture passages. The passage stated that Mr. Nazerali had undertaken some sort of activities on behalf of the Iranian government.)
Mr. McConchie also asked Mr. Nazerali about his job with an entity called the Gulf Group, where he had worked in the early 1980s. (The Gulf Group is in question because some of the Deep Capture messages said the group was an international criminal organization that engaged in fraud, arms trading and money laundering.) Mr. Nazerali replied that he had worked under a man who reported to the head of the group, Abbas Gokal.
The trial will continue Thursday. |
