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Apology for author over book lies
26.08.08Author Sir Salman Rushdie attended the High Court in London to hear apologies from the writers and publishers of a book which they admitted contained falsehoods about his time under police protection.
Former police officer Ron Evans, whose duties included driving for the Special Branch protection squad who looked after Sir Salman when his life was under threat, made an apology through his solicitor on 11 counts of falsehoods.
Mr Justice Teare made a Declaration of Falsity against Evans, his ghost writer Douglas Thompson, and the publisher of On Her Majesty's Service, John Blake Publishing.
Sir Salman, who did not seek damages, said after the hearing: "This has been an unattractive affair. My only interest was to establish the truth. I'm happy that the court has made its declaration of falsity and that the authors and publishers have recognised their falsehoods and apologised. As far as I am concerned that's the end of the matter."
David Sherborne, representing Sir Salman, told the judge that Mr Evans met his client while he was living under the strain of a fatwa issued against him by the Iranian regime in 1989 over his book The Satanic Verses.
Mr Evans left the police force following his conviction on nine counts of dishonesty, Mr Sherborne said.
He said Mr Evans's book, and extracts from it published in the Mail on Sunday, contained "many so-called revelations about Sir Salman's home life, his relationship with his wife, son and interactions with police protection officers.
"In addition to the invasion of his privacy which this book represented, of particular concern to the claimant were a series of utterly and demonstrably false statements which it contained."
Mr Sherborne said: "Allegations of this nature are, of course, highly defamatory and they were particularly offensive to the claimant because they are simply not true.
"In fact, as a number of his protection officers volunteered to testify in the event that this matter came to trial, Sir Salman conducted himself with dignity and courtesy throughout a time of great personal danger and concern."
