Even as he’s set to take the stand for a fourth time against John “Junior” Gotti in Manhattan federal court, radio talk-show host Curtis Sliwa is getting ready to take the stand in Brooklyn to defend remarks he allegedly made about a controversial imam.
Lawyers for both sides yesterday began picking jurors who will decide whether Sliwa slandered Siraj Wahhaj and his mosque, the Masjid At-Taqwa, when he said, “They’re running guns to Canada” during a CUNY panel discussion in 2003.
“Those are very serious allegations in light of the fact that people already look askance at Muslims, given the things that have happened over the past nine years,” said Tarik Davis, Wahhaj’s lawyer. “It’s out of bounds and reckless and I believe that Mr. Sliwa knew it wasn’t true.”
The discussion was broadcast on a local cable network. “This is an important case,” Sliwa lawyer Paul Siegert said. “It’s a free speech issue. It’s about constitutional rights of citizens.”