KUALA LUMPUR – Sarawak Report editor, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, will submit a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to cancel the charge of issuing defamatory statements against Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah through The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose book.
Her counsel, Guok Ngek Seong, said this is following the high court’s decision on October 31, which dismissed the defamation suit filed by Sultanah Nur Zahirah against her client involving the Terengganu Investment Authority in the book.
Rewcastle-Brown, who is from the United Kingdom, was charged in absentia at the Kuala Terengganu magistrates’ court on September 23, 2021, for criminal defamation under Section 500 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both, if convicted.
“The representation will be handed over to the AGC this week,” Guok said when contacted after the case management before high court deputy registrar Catherine Nicholas today.
On October 31, judicial commissioner John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan, rejected the defamation suit on the grounds that there were no defamatory statements in the book, even though there was clearly a mistaken identity issue, and ordered RM80,000 in costs to be paid to Rewcastle-Brown and other defendants, namely publisher Cheong Ton Sin and printer, Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.
According to Guok, today was supposed to be the hearing of his client’s application to transfer the case from the Kuala Terengganu magistrates’ court to the high court here before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, but it was postponed to February 2.
He said deputy public prosecutor Noor Haslinda Che Seman had also informed the deputy registrar that the trial in the Kuala Terengganu magistrates’ court had been fixed to begin next month. – Bernama, December 12, 2022
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