This timely and important book focuses on the controversial issue ofSLAPP cases - Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation - which aredesigned to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them withaggressive opposing lawyers, heavy legal costs and enquiry agents until theyabandon the case. David Hooper, veteran media lawyer, explores how the powerof money enabled the very wealthy to crush their critics and outlines thetactics they used. He examines how billionaire oligarchs, often ex-convictsand linked to organised crime, have tried to launder their reputation in thiscountry by suing for libel, and how they have found lawyers only too happy topocket their roubles. Hooper describes his experience with some of theseoligarchs, including Boris Berezovsky when Hooper needed an armed bodyguardwhile collecting evidence in Moscow. It was a case where both plaintiffs wereultimately murdered, as was his client, the editor of Forbes Russia. The UKalso has its home-grown Slappsters, of whom Nadhim Zahawi and Mohamed Amersiare the most recent examples. They also come from Greece, Sweden, Azerbaijan,Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Malta and the United States. Hooper describes how thosewith something to hide tried, with varying degrees of success, to stop youknowing about it, and how their lawyers were willing to help them. Thewell-paid legal profession does not emerge with credit.
