KUALA LUMPUR – Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown said the Malaysian police could have just called her instead of issuing a notice asking for the public to provide information on her whereabouts.
She told Free Malaysia Today that police had messaged her in the past and they could call her to ask for her location.
“If they hope someone will ring up with dirt about me, they will be disappointed as I live a very boring but happy life.
“They should focus on crooks who are stealing from Malaysia,” she was quoted as saying.
The police notice issued yesterday came more than a month after Bukit Aman CID chief Abd Jalil Hassan made a plea to the public earlier today for information on Rewcastle-Brown, who had failed to appear in court to face a charge of defaming Sultanah Nur Zahirah of Terengganu.
It came a little over a month after a warrant of arrest was issued against her by the Kuala Terengganu magistrates’ court on September 23.
In a statement yesterday, police said Rewcastle-Brown, 62, is wanted after she failed to attend proceedings in a suit linked to Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
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.
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 book had cast aspersions on the plaintiff.
In her defence, Sultanah Nur Zahirah said the contents 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 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, November 6, 2021
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