Former moderator vindicated of ‘slandering’ Paul R. Jensen
The Layman Online, July 16, 2003
Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the 214th General Assembly (2002), whom a Presbyterian lawyer accused of slander, has been vindicated by church and civil courts.
The Orange County Superior Court in California dismissed the slander suit filed by Paul R. Jensen against Abu-Akel, saying it lacked “subject matter jurisdiction over the allegations of the complaint.”
And Abu-Akel’s home presbytery, Greater Atlanta, issued a report in which it stated that Rev. Abu-Akel did not slander or bear false witness against Mr. Jensen and is, therefore, vindicated.
Jensen’s civil suit contended that Abu-Akel accused him of lying because of his allegation in a church court brief. Jensen argued in the brief that Abu-Akel and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick conspired to prevent a called meeting of the 214th General Assembly.
The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission ruled in that case that Abu-Akel had acted inappropriately in lobbying against a petition for the called meeting. The court dismissed Jensen’s accusation against Kirkpatrick.
In his testimony, Abu-Akel denied that he was involved in a conspiracy with the stated clerk to prevent the 214th General Assembly from convening in a special session to consider constitutional defiance and discipline.
But, in his testimony during a deposition by Jensen, Abu-Akel said he had depended on the clerk’s office repeatedly to inform him about how he should respond to the petition for the called meeting.