Campaigning journalist fights back against bank’s legal threats

When the journalist and human rights activist Abdalle Mumin fled torture and persecution in Somalia, he thought he’d be safe in the UK.

But now, Premier Bank – a major Somali financial institution – is seeking to silence Abdalle, using lawyers based in London to threaten dragging him through the UK courts. The complaint? News articles – which Abdalle says were nothing to do with him – and a handful of social media posts in which Abdalle criticised the bank.

Law firm Taylor Hampton put together a legal threat full of aggressive and intimidating language, statements without merit and a demand for “very substantial” damages.

This looks like a textbook SLAPP – a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation – aimed at intimidating and silencing a critic through a threat of expensive legal action. And it’s part of a worrying trend: powerful institutions and wealthy individuals misusing the English legal system to silence journalists and activists.

We’re working with Abdalle to fight back: we’ve sent a robust legal response to Premier Bank and we’ve filed a complaint against the bank’s aggressive lawyers with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

But this case highlights a deeper problem. The UK’s libel laws don’t do enough to protect journalists, campaigners and activists from people with power and privilege making oppressive legal threats. This leads to a chilling effect on their work – some stories simply never get told.

We contacted Taylor Hampton for comment. They denied that their letter was a SLAPP. They told us that Abdalle published a number of highly defamatory allegations about Premier Bank to a large audience which threatened the bank’s viability. They said that Abdalle is an experienced journalist and that their letter “was suitably framed to respond to the severity of Mr Mumin’s conduct”. But Abdalle says he had nothing to do with many of the words they accuse him of writing.

Taylor Hampton pointed to case law which says they are not required to investigate their clients’ claims. But they also said that “third party sources” confirmed to Premier Bank that Abdalle was the author of the news articles. Abdalle says he did not write the articles.

Taylor Hampton denied that their letter was intimidating or oppressive and pointed out that Abdalle has not been intimidated because he has continued to criticise Premier Bank. But is someone only intimidated when they’re forced to stop speaking out?

Abdalle is not alone. We urgently need reforms to stop the UK legal system being weaponised against people speaking out against governments, corporations and billionaires – and to protect those who risk everything to hold power to account.