The verdict is being labeled as the largest cyber verdict that’s sitting on the record right now, after Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Ferguson ordered two anti-Muslim activists, defendant Kevin J. Johnston and Ranendra (Ron) Banerjee to pay $2.5-million in damages to Mohamad Fakih, the owner of Paramount Fine Foods, a Lebanese-born businessman.
Johnston had accused Fakih and his customers of being “jihadists”, and claimed was an “economic terrorist” with backing from the Pakistani spy agency. They were forced to apologize for these false accusations as well.
His behaviour, the judge said, “reflects a contempt for Canada’s judicial process, an abuse of the very freedoms this country affords them and a loathsome example of hate speech at its worst, targeting people solely because of their religion”.