Sultanah appeals in defamation suit against Sarawak Report founder

 

Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah has gone to the Court of Appeal in her defamation suit against Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

The state royal’s counsel Mohd Hazeeq Pillay this afternoon confirmed the filing of the appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissal of the civil action over Rewcastle-Brown’s book ‘The Sarawak Report - The Inside Story of 1MDB’.

“We have on behalf of Her Royal Highness Tuanku Nur Zahirah, Sultanah of Terengganu, filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the decision of Judicial Commissioner (Mohammad) Johan Lee,” the lawyer said in a media statement.

On 31, the High Court dismissed the state royal’s civil action over statements in the book, ruling that there was no defamatory statement in the book.

He noted that from the perspective of a reasonable reader, the impugned statements do not give rise to several imputations complained of by the sultanah (above, left).

During the hearing of the civil action, the sultanah testified her denial of being involved in 1MDB’s predecessor Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), while Rewcastle-Brown (above, right) testified that it was an honest mistake on her part in relation to the alleged defamatory portion in the book.

The book’s later editions removed the purportedly defamatory portion.

On Nov 21, 2018, the sultanah filed the civil action which named not only Rewcastle-Brown but Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin and printing company Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.

The plaintiff alleged that Rewcastle-Brown used defamatory statements in the book, which Vinlin Press printed in August 2018.

The plaintiff claimed she was not involved in either the administration or the setting up of TIA and alleged that the statements caused her embarrassment and tarnished her reputation.

She was seeking RM100 million in damages and wanted second defendant Chong to withdraw the books containing the statements, as well as to stop the third defendant Vinlin Press from printing more copies of the book.

In their statement of defence, the three defendants denied they had ever accused Nur Zahirah of being involved in corruption.

Meanwhile, a separate criminal court case against Rewcastle-Brown in relation to the same portion of the book is still ongoing. - Mkini