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That law has since been repealed by the Harper government and this case was one of the last loose ends in the broader conflict. As a total victory for Mr. Awan, it represents the revenge of the “sock puppet.”

This was the condescending nickname Mr. Levant and others used for him on the theory the law student was being manipulated in his anti-Islamophobia advocacy by Mohamed Elmasry, former head of the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), who had earlier torpedoed his own credibility with inflammatory comments about the Mideast conflict on a television talk show.

But Mr. Awan did not have as close a relationship with Mr. Elmasry as Mr. Levant repeatedly claimed, nor did he share his controversial views, Judge Matheson found.

As she put it, “Much of what [Mr. Levant] wanted to talk about at trial related more to Dr. Elmasry than to [Mr. Awan].”

She ruled there is “ample evidence before me demonstrating express malice on the part of [Mr. Levant],” especially the fact he “did little or no fact-checking regarding the posts complained of, either before or after their publication.”

“I find that [Mr. Levant’s] dominant motive in these blog posts was ill will, and that his repeated failure to take even basic steps to check his facts showed a reckless disregard for the truth.”

Mr. Levant “ought to have been aware of the serious ramifications of his words on the reputation of this law student. Yet, at trial, he repeatedly tried to minimize his mistakes and his lack of diligence.”