On 22 November 2015, the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem granted a verdict in favor of Union Construction and Investment (UCI), a prominent Ramallah-based construction and real estate development company.

In order to protect the company’s rights, reputation, and the interest of its investors, a lawsuit was filed by UCI in 2012 against Mr. Ibrahim Baydoun for his slanderous accusations of UCI and one of UCI’s sales representatives.

Mr. Baydoun’s attempted through his false and unjust statements to affect the business of UCI directly, and specifically targeted UCI’s sales representative during his interactions with clients interested in purchasing villas in one of UCI’s residential projects.. The prosecuting party was able to measure that an obstruction was evident in Mr. Baydoun’s defaming comments, and that the credibility of the company was affected unjustifiably during the singular incident involving UCI’s staff and prospective clients.

By the orders of the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem, Mr. Baydoun is required to pay an amount of 20,000 New Israeli Shekels as compensation for the prosecuting party’s losses within 90 days of the ruling. Baydoun was also forced to issue an public apology for the incident.

Speaking about the ruling, UCI’s CEO and Vice Chairman, Mr. Khaled Al Sabawi stated: “Let this be a lesson to any ill intention person who believes they are above the law and can get away with slander and defamation.”