Police payout over TV mosque

May 15 2008

WEST Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service will today publicly apologise and pay a six-figure sum for accusing a Channel 4 documentary exposing extremism in Britain’s mosques of misleading editing.

The apology will be made at the High Court after the broadcaster decided to launch libel proceedings against them.

The Dispatches programme infiltrated mosques, including Green Lane Mosque, in Small Heath, and featured undercover recordings from speakers alleged to be homophobic, anti-Semitic, sexist and condemnatory of non-Muslims.

Following an investigation police and CPS issued a press release claiming the film misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics through misleading editing.

Those claims were later rejected by media watchdog Ofcom.

Kevin Sutcliffe, deputy head of current affairs at Channel 4, said: "This is a total vindication of the programme team in exposing extreme views being preached in mainstream British mosques.

"The authorities should be doing all they can to encourage investigations like this, not attempting to publicly rubbish them for reasons they have never properly explained."

A statement to be made in open court said: "Both defendants now accept that the allegations of distortion that were made in the press release were incorrect.

"They are here by their counsel today publicly to withdraw these allegations and to apologise for the fact that they were made.

"Both defendants accept, without reservation, the conclusions of Ofcom and accept that the programme accurately represented the material that had been gathered from the undercover filming."

The CPS said it would not comment until a statement was made in court.

A police spokeswoman confirmed: "An apology is being read out in open court and a sum has been agreed to programme makers for a charity of their choice."

Channel 4 said £50,000 would be donated to the Rory Peck Trust for freelance news gatherers and their families in times of need. It will also receive £50,000 in costs.