‘I DID NOT PAY, PAS DID NOT PAY. THE ALLEGATION IS NOT TRUE’: HADI RETREATS FURTHER INTO ‘DENIAL LAND’ – EVEN AS RAMELI’S WIFE’S CRITICIZES DEAFENING ‘SILENCE’ OF THOSE HER HUSBAND HELPED WITH RM1.4 MILLION CHEQUE TO CLARE’S LAWYER

KUALA TERENGGANU: Datuk Seri Hadi Awang has denied claims that he paid Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown RM1.4 million in an out-of-court settlement recently.

The Pas president said neither he nor the party paid Rewcastle-Brown any money to end the legal suit, which was first alleged by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu.

“I did not pay, Pas did not pay. The allegation is not true,” he told reporters today, repeating the party’s claim that it had never paid Rewcastle-Brown via a third party.

This is the first time Hadi has issued a statement on the matter since the allegation was first reported on Feb 27.

Hadi said the allegation was merely an agenda by certain quarters to bring down the party.

On the picture of him meeting Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) chairman Datuk Rameli Musa, Hadi confirmed it was him in the picture but denied their meeting had anything to do with the RM1.4 million payment.

The picture was posted on Facebook by PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, who alleged that Rameli, who is said to be Hadi’s friend, was the person who paid the money to Rewcastle-Brown.

Hadi said he met Rameli two years ago in Thailand during a meeting with the late former Thai foreign minister Tan Sri Surin Abdul Halim Ismail Pitsuwan to discuss the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar.

“I think the picture was taken during my trip to Thailand if I’m not mistaken. I was meeting Surin to discuss the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar.

“During the meeting, there was nothing about signing any cheque,” he said.

Hadi also said Pas does not intend to bring the matter to court to clear its name as it does not want to waste time and money.

“Tonight, we will conduct a solat hajat nationwide (for) those who believe we didn’t do such things. We leave it to Allah. We will also explain to the people the truth,” he added.

It was reported that Hadi had taken Rewcastle-Brown to court for defamation in 2017 over a report in 2016 that alleged Pas leaders took RM90 million to support Umno and Barisan Nasional ahead of the 14th General Election.

Hadi, however, withdrew the lawsuit filed in London this year.

“We were approached by certain quarters asking us to withdraw the suit but we didn’t want to because this case happened during the general election and this is a political case.

“And when we won in Terengganu and defended Kelantan, we could rule these states and we are also the biggest party in Kedah and Pahang.

“So, we succeeded politically. And because we succeeded (in our political agenda), we withdrew the case (against Rewcastle-Brown),” he said.

Rameli was grilled for more than five hours by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials for money laundering.

He was summoned to have his statement recorded over claims that Rewcastle-Brown was paid RM1.4 million.

NST