A judge has allowed four Afghan witnesses who allegedly saw Ben Roberts-Smith kick a handcuffed Afghan citizen off a cliff to give evidence remotely when the Australian war veteran’s defamation case against three newspapers heads to trial in June.
Nine-owned Fairfax will have to pay out over $2 million in legal fees after being hit with indemnity costs on top of a $280,000 judgment in its defamation spat with venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead for its “Micawber-like” approach to the case.
Venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead is seeking indemnity costs after being awarded $280,000 in her defamation case against Nine-owned Fairfax, which she accuses of rejecting several settlement offers with “bugger off letters” and engaging in a “petulant campaign” of media coverage post-judgment.
Chinese businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing has been awarded $590,000 in a Federal Court judgment that found an ABC Four Corner’s report contained “untrue and seriously defamatory imputations” about alleged espionage, bribery of UN leaders, and links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead has been awarded $280,000 in her defamation case against the Nine-owned Australian Financial Review after the Federal Court found she suffered hurt and damage to her reputation through a “targeted campaign of offensive mockery” about her role in collapsed investment firm Blue Sky Alternative Investments.
The columnist behind two allegedly defamatory Australian Financial Review articles has told the court that he believed former Blue Sky managing director Dr Elaine Stead was “cretinously stupid” because of her “astonishingly ridiculous” behavior on social media at the time of the company’s collapse.
Nine-owned Fairfax has denied that two Australian Financial Review articles implied that venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead “deliberately” destroyed capital, as it seeks to significantly reduce the defamation case it faces.
Venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead has taken the stand in a high-profile defamation case against the Nine-owned Fairfax, saying that she felt “shame, embarrassment, humiliation and guilt” over two allegedly defamatory Australian Financial Review articles about her role in the collapsed investment firm Blue Sky.
Former Blue Sky Capital venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead is seeking over $671,000 in damages from the publisher of the Australian Financial Review over two articles she describes as a “misogynist attack” and “vitriolic abuse” that did significant damage to her professional reputation.
A judge has set aside a subpoena issued by venture capitalist Elaine Stead in her defamation lawsuit against Fairfax, saying subpoenas could not just be issued “willy nilly” to identify a journalist’s confidential sources.