Mohammed El Naschie brought a libel suit against Nature Publishing Group and a journalist there and at Bristol Crown Court today the judgment stated, "My conclusions are that the Article is substantially true, whether one considers the meanings complained of by the Claimant or justified by the Defendants, that it contains comments which are defensible as honest comment, and that it was the product of responsible journalism, so that the defence of Reynolds privilege succeeds."
In other words, the truth is still defense against libel.
El Naschie filed the suit because this article noted that he was basically publishing his own articles in the journal he edited and founded - 60 papers. He also had some fraudulent claims in his bio. In late 2008, Elsevier's director of corporate relations, Shira Tabachnikoff, wrote in an e-mail to Nature: "Dr El Naschie's retirement as Editor-in-Chief of Chaos, Solitons and Fractals will be announced to readers in the first issue of 2009."
Statement from Nature responding to judgement in libel trial, Nature
H/T John Wilbanks
