LONDON, Sept. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --
- A UK business, Jusan Technologies Limited ("JTL") has commenced two defamation claims in the English Court against The Bureau of Investigative Journalism ("TBIJ"), the Telegraph Media Group Limited ("TMGL") and openDemocracy Limited ("OD").
- The claims relate to three articles published by these publishers which alleged that JTL was a corrupt vehicle through which the former President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, controlled an international business empire.
- JTL was left with no choice other than to bring proceedings to vindicate itself.
BACKGROUND
JTL recently commenced the following claims in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales:
1. A claim in connection with an article published by OD on 21 January 2022, which alleges, among other things, that JTL is part of an "opaque network" which links Mr Nazarbayev to US$7.8bn in assets. OD also claims that JTL participated in a US$200 million transaction with a third party at a significant undervalue. JTL was not offered any opportunity prior to publication to verify the factual accuracy of and respond to the allegations.
2. A claim in connection with:
a. an article published by TBIJ on 17 February 2022, which alleged among other things, that JTL was being used by former president Nazarbayev "to help safeguard [his] multibillion-dollar empire"; and
b. two articles published simultaneously (in print and online) by TBIJ's publication partner, TMGL on 17 February 2022, which contained several of the allegations made by TBIJ.
DETAILS
JTL stresses that, in these lawsuits, it does not seek to silence truthful journalism in the public interest. JTL has no objection to robust reporting in relation to Mr Nazarbayev or his family. However, to link JTL to allegations of corruption on the part of Mr Nazarbayev, as the articles that are the subject of the claims continue to do, is wrong. That is the basis for these lawsuits.
The articles portray JTL as having been owned and/or controlled by or for the benefit of Mr Nazarbayev. This is wrong, as was explained to the publishers by reference to the relevant facts and law, both before and after publication. Mr Nazarbayev has never had, directly or indirectly, any role or control over JTL's assets or how it uses its funds. He cannot sell JTL's assets and neither he nor his family exert any controlling interest. Mr Nazarbayev does not sit on the boards of JTL or its direct or indirect parent companies nor is he a shareholder, either directly or indirectly, of any companies in the group. Since its inception, JTL has been managed by an independent board of directors, each with fiduciary obligations under UK law, and takes any decisions independently of Mr Nazarbayev.
The majority of JTL's profits are used for the exclusive benefit of funding Western-style education in Kazakhstan, through Nazarbayev University ("NU"), Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools ("NIS") and their organisations. JTL has preferred to operate in the UK (ranked 11 of 180 jurisdictions in Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perception Index) in order to keep its assets safe because of the UK's strong rule of law and thereby safeguard NU and NIS for future generations.
JTL tried to resolve the claims amicably out of court, including by making clear prior to issuing proceedings that its key objective is to correct the falsehoods in the articles, and offering to donate damages to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. However, the publishers refused to publish suitable corrections or to remove the defamatory articles from their websites. Given the seriousness of the allegations of financial and other wrongdoing, JTL was compelled to pursue legal complaints against each publisher to correct their inaccurate and highly misleading reporting.
A spokesperson for JTL commented:
"JTL is independently audited and its financial statements are publicly available. JTL employs rigorous standards of compliance and corporate governance in its operations. Out of fairness to the claimants and defendants alike, JTL has no wish to litigate its claims through the media. At this time, we note only that JTL supports truthful journalism in the public interest and stresses that in these lawsuits, it does not seek to silence proper reporting. However, these articles are highly defamatory of JTL, a UK company, which was seeking to expand its operations when these articles were published. Regrettably, JTL's efforts to resolve these claims amicably were rebuffed and JTL was therefore compelled to defend itself against the erroneous claims that continue to be made against it in the press.
"These claims are being pursued in order for the correct position to be properly considered and to encourage accurate reporting going forward."
NOTES TO EDITORS
Jusan Technologies Ltd is a UK-registered business which holds assets and investments primarily in Kazakhstan including in real estate, telecoms, banking, logistics and insurance. Its main source of income and revenue comes from First Heartland Securities JSC, which owns First Heartland Jusan Bank JSC.
JTL is represented in the English proceedings by Prateek Swaika of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP.
The cases are Jusan Technologies Ltd and another v The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and another, and Jusan Technologies Ltd and another v openDemocracy Ltd, case numbers QB-2022-002660 and QB-2022-002661, in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales.
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