Defamation suit - court says Terengganu sultanah has case, orders Clare to turn up

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has found that Terengganu's Sultanah Nur Zahirah has proven she has a case in her defamation suit against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

As such, the court has ordered for the London-based editor to be present in court for the trial.

Judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim also ruled that since all questions regarding the plaintiff's case have been answered, the sultanah need not be present in court herself.

The Terengganu sultanah had applied for the case to be summarily disposed of using points of law without having to go through a full trial that would have required her to testify in court.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah had sued Rewcastle-Brown (above), Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd over a passage in the book, The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose.

The sultana alleged the passage linked her to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal and fugitive businessperson Jho Low.

The plaintiff claimed that the statements implied that she was involved in corrupt acts and had interfered in the administration of Terengganu.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah is seeking RM100 million in damages and wants the second defendant Chong to withdraw the books containing the defamatory statements, as well as to stop the third defendant Vinlin Press from printing more copies of the book.

"We have always maintained that she never had a role. The second publication of the book is a clear indication of that," said lawyer Haziq Pillay Abdullah (above, left) who is representing the sultanah, when met by reporters after the hearing.

"The evidence is quite clear. Even a child reading it would know that," he added. - Mkini