Paul Tweed

Solicitor Paul Tweed brought the High Court proceedings on behalf of Dr Jorge Segovia Bonet, a Spanish businessman who owns the Chilean football club Unión Española, and SEK International Institution, which he led as president and CEO.

Dr Segovia alleged that he was defamed in relation to the series El Presidente, which was released exclusively on Amazon Prime in 2020.

A settlement, reached without admission of liability, was announced in the Irish High Court yesterday.

In a statement, Mr Tweed said: “My clients’ defamation action in relation to a broadcast on Amazon Prime has taken over four years to be resolved and for my clients’ reputations to be totally vindicated as a result of one of the most substantial financial settlements in which I have been involved in recent years.

“Settlement terms have been announced today of a very substantial damages payment, along with my clients’ legal costs and the removal of the offending material, on a worldwide basis, originally published on the Amazon Prime series entitled El Presidente.

“Fortunately, my clients have had the financial strength and backbone to take on this global broadcaster, which has operations around the world, making it all the more difficult to establish an appropriate jurisdiction to take legal action in the first place.

“Full credit must go to my clients’ fortitude in this regard, which will hopefully establish a precedent for others who have been the subject of defamatory allegations on the streaming platforms, whose productions have overtaken output of the mainstream media in recent times.

“The difference is of course that the traditional broadcasters are subject to strict regulatory and legal sanctions, which the streaming platforms appear to believe should not apply to them.”

He added: “My client hopes that this groundbreaking settlement will set an example for others to follow suit.”