A surprise twist ending to an otherwise standard addition to the Orwell and Kafka genre? Indeed. Except (a) this ain’t over and (b) this isn’t the big surprise twist.

Calgary Muslim leader Syed Soharwardy says he is withdrawing his Alberta Human Rights Commission complaint against former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant…

“Over the two years that we have gone through the process, I understand that most Canadians see this as an issue of freedom of speech, that that principle is sacred and holy in our society,” said Soharwardy, president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada.

“I believe Canadian society is mature enough not to absorb the messages that the cartoons sent. Only a very small fraction of Canadian media decided to publish those cartoons.”…

“But I hope people see this as a positive action, that it will create better feelings between Muslims and all Canadians,” Mr. Soharwardy said.

Here’s the surprise twist. Levant:

I understand that Soharwardy has an Op-Ed in tomorrow’s Herald in which he effectively admits his complaint was motivated by Saudi-style censorship, not any Canadian belief in human rights. In other words, he admits what I’ve alleged all along: he was hijacking a secular “human rights” commission for his radical Islamo-fascist agenda. But now he wants us all to pretend he didn’t.

Well, back in the land of real laws and real rules of court, there’s a tort called “abuse of process”, and Soharwardy has just admitted to it.

For two years, this corrupt, radical imam has hunted me using the resources of the taxpayers of Alberta for the “thought crime” of publishing a cartoon he didn’t like. I had a preliminary discussion with my lawyer today. My aim is to file an abuse of process claim in the Court of Queen’s Bench within the month. Whether or not I sue the commission itself, and its inquisitor Shirlene McGovern, is something I haven’t discussed yet with my lawyers.

I doubt he’ll get far with the suit but winning it isn’t the point; the point is to warn off potential Star Chamber abusers with the prospect of the same legal headaches they’re using to harass publishers into silence. Follow the link for his pungent metaphor for what Soharwardy’s doing here. And if you’re unfamiliar with Soharwardy himself, read this.