A high-profile legal showdown is set to begin on 21 July 2025 at the Royal Courts of Justice, where Pakistani whistleblower and former military officer Adil Farooq Raja will face off against a serving officer of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in a defamation trial widely condemned as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP).
The case, Claim No. QB-2022-002648, is emerging as a stark test of the UK judiciary’s stance on transnational repression—the growing phenomenon of authoritarian regimes weaponizing foreign courts to silence exiled dissidents. Media freedom advocates warn that this trial could set a dangerous precedent for how Britain’s legal institutions are used—or misused—by foreign state actors.
A Political Trial Disguised as Defamation?
Raja, who now lives in the UK under police protection, is a war-wounded ex-Major, former counterterrorism officer, and a full member of the UK’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Once embedded within Pakistan’s military establishment, Raja turned into one of its most vocal critics after the 2022 political upheaval that led to the ouster and illegal imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Read More: The Judge Cannot Erase His Shame
“This isn’t a civil case—it’s an extension of Pakistan’s internal crackdown on dissent,” Raja said in a pre-trial statement. “The ISI is attempting to whitewash its political crimes by exploiting British courts.”
At the heart of the case is the ISI’s legal claim that its Sector Commanders—long accused of political manipulation, media intimidation, and interference in judicial processes—are “non-political professional soldiers.” Raja and many observers call this narrative an audacious misrepresentation aimed at misleading the UK court.
The ISI’s History of Political Engineering
The ISI’s alleged role in domestic political control dates back to the 1977 military coup, after which the agency increasingly directed electoral outcomes, muzzled critical media, and undermined judicial independence in Pakistan. According to international rights monitors and local watchdogs, these practices have only intensified in recent years.
In the lead-up to Pakistan’s controversial February 2024 elections, the military and ISI were accused of widespread voter suppression, mass arrests of political workers, and tampering with vote counts to ensure outcomes favorable to the military-backed government.
A Broader Threat to Press Freedom
Legal experts and journalists’ unions warn that this case could embolden other repressive regimes to pursue critics abroad through civil litigation—essentially exporting censorship under the guise of defamation.
“This is more than an attack on one journalist,” Raja noted. “It’s a template for transnational suppression. If this lawsuit succeeds, it will send a chilling message to exiled truth-tellers everywhere.”
Human rights groups, media watchdogs, and press freedom advocates are urging UK-based journalists and international observers to attend the proceedings and scrutinize the implications of the case.