State sued for calling Muslim scholar a terrorist

Muslim scholar Yousuf Ahmed Deedat is suing the state for R15m after allegedly being branded an Isis terrorist in court. According to a report on the IoL site, the Verulam man, the son of the late fiery founder and president of Islamic Propagation Centre International, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, has sent a letter of demand to the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams, denying claims that he is a threat to national security. ‘I was born in SA and had no ties with Isis or for that matter any terrorist organisation,’ he said in the letter. ‘Further, the submission by the prosecutor that I was involved in organised crime was frivolous.’ Deedat, represented by attorneys Dawood Patel & Company, said the statements were made by a prosecutor in April when he appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court. He said police had arrested him for allegedly issuing Isis-related pamphlets at a Durban North school. ‘The state’s contention that I handed out Isis pamphlets is malicious. It is devoid of any truth,’ he said in the letter of demand. ‘The allegation that I am a terrorist or have any links to Isis is rejected as false beyond all reasonable doubt.’