The Kuala Lumpur High Court has vacated the four-day hearing from today of the Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah’s defamation suit against Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown and two others.
This followed on the heels of Rewcastle-Brown having filed an application to stay the civil action, pending disposal of a separate criminal court case against her.
On Sept 23, the Kuala Terengganu Magistrates Court charged Rewcastle Brown in absentia with criminal defamation.
The criminal court case was over her book "The Sarawak Report - The inside story of 1MDB" which mentioned the Terengganu sultanah.
Last month, Free Malaysia Today reported that Rewcastle Brown has filed a motion at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to not only transfer the criminal case to the Kuala Lumpur court but also to quash the criminal charge.
The online news portal reported Rewcastle Brown contending that the criminal charge must be quashed as it was allegedly done in bad faith, malicious and abuse of court process.
The Terengganu sultanah’s civil action against the Sarawak Report editor was over the same article that is the subject matter of the criminal charge.
Besides RewcastleBrown, the civil action also targeted Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin and printing company Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.
When contacted today, Rewcastle Brown’s counsel Mervyn Lai confirmed the vacation of the hearing, which was previously set for hearing from today until Tuesday next week.
The lawyer said that the High Court vacated the trial dates after his client filed an application to stay the Terengganu royalty’s civil action, pending disposal of the criminal court proceedings.
“We (Rewcastle Brown) filed to stay the civil action as we contend it would be prejudicial if the civil action is allowed to proceed while the criminal case is still ongoing,” Lai said.
He added that the Kuala Lumpur High Court has also fixed March 4 to hear Rewcastle Brown’s application to stay the Terengganu Sultanah’s civil action.
The sultanah’s counsel Mohd Haaziq Pillay also confirmed the matter.
Sultanah's civil action
On Nov 21, 2018, the Terengganu sultanah filed civil action against Rewcastle Brown and the two other defendants at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah alleged that Rewcastle Brown used defamatory statements in the book, which was printed by Vinlin Press in August 2018.
She claimed that the statements implied that she was involved in corrupt acts and interfered in the administration of Terengganu.
She further claimed that the statements alleged that she used her role to influence the setting up of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), and assisted wanted fugitive Low Taek Jho, more popularly known as Jho Low, to become the adviser of TIA, which later morphed into 1MDB.
The sultanah claimed she was not involved in either the administration of the state or the setting up of the TIA and alleged that the statements had caused her embarrassment and tarnished her reputation in the eyes of the public.
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 stop third defendant Vinlin Press from printing more copies of the book.
In their statement of defence, the three defendants denied they had ever accused Sultanah Nur Zahirah of having been involved in corruption. - Mkini
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