A refugee advocate has won his defamation battle with Peter Dutton after an appeal court found that a tweet calling the Defence Minister a “rape apologist” should not have been taken literally.
Shane Bazzi was ordered to pay damages of $35,000 at trial after Justice Richard White agreed the words conveyed the imputation that he “excuses rape”, but the Full Federal Court overturned the verdict on Tuesday.
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Michael Pelly is the legal editor, based in our Sydney newsroom. He has been a senior adviser to federal and state attorneys-general and written two books, one a biography of former High Court Chief Justice Murray Gleeson. Email Michael at michael.pelly@afr.com
