KUALA LUMPUR – The Kuala Terengganu magistrates’ court today issued an arrest warrant for Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, 62, for failing to show up for proceedings in a suit linked to Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
The warrant was issued by magistrate Nordiana Abd Aziz after the prosecution applied for it, reported Berita Harian. She also set November 23 for case mention.
Rewcastle-Brown is facing a charge under Section 500 of the Penal Code for allegedly uttering defamatory statements in her book The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose.
Engku Ahmad Rashdi Engku Abdillah, Noor Haslinda Che Seman, and Nadia Zulkefli appeared for the government.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah earlier filed for defamation against Rewcastle-Brown, publishers GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd and Chong Ton Sin, and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.
On December 13, 2019, high court judge Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim held that the defendants had indeed defamed the sultanah, asserting that a passage in The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose book had cast aspersions on the plaintiff.
In her defence, Sultanah Nur Zahirah said the content of the book would infer that she interfered in the state administration and used her influence to establish a sovereign wealth fund, which later became the 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
However, the defence argued the justification of fair comment and qualified privilege.
The sultanah is seeking RM100 million in damages from each defendant. – The Vibes, September 23, 2021
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