Rewcastle-Brown says ‘still considering’ return to Malaysia after court order compelling her presence to face Terengganu Sultanah’s lawsuit

Malay Mail

PETALING JAYA, May 9 — Sarawak Report editor and founder, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, said that she is “still considering” returning to Malaysia, following the Terengganu High Court’s order to have her appear for the management of her appeal case to overturn her conviction and two-year prison sentence for defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah.

Speaking virtually from her home base in London, Rewcastle-Brown lamented the apparent dogged hunt for her, following her remarks that were deemed defamatory in her book, The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose.

“There is an absolute determination to go after me by people in very high places, through every access that they have, through their wealth, through the civil courts, through their power, through the criminal process and this is all intimidation that you should not bear down on journalists,” she said at a fundraising event for her and two local publishers, Gerakbudaya Enterprise and Vinless Press, which are also implicated in the case.

Rewcastle-Brown said her presence here will simply be an “unnecessary distraction”.

“It’s quite an embarrassing situation and would be even more embarrassing I think, for everyone concerned if I turned up, dragged up in chains and thrown into jail for two years.

“I am already being hammered by very wealthy entities through the civil courts.

“Yes, that is the ‘invitation’, and I am still considering it,” she said when asked if she would return to Malaysia.

On February 7, Rewcastle-Brown was sentenced to two years in jail after she was found guilty of defaming Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Berita Harian reported.

Rewcastle-Brown was previously the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the court for her failure to show up for a charge in relation to the case.

According to Section 425A of the Criminal Procedure Code, the case’s trial was held in absentia.

The national daily also reported that Rewcastle-Brown was prosecuted under Section 500 of the Penal Code for publishing remarks that were deemed defamatory in her book.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah had filed a lawsuit on November 21, 2018 against Rewcastle-Brown over the book’s claims and demanded damages of RM100 million.

She claimed that the defamatory remarks suggested that she was involved in corrupt practices and had meddled in the Terengganu state government’s affairs.

The Sultanah also said the claim that she had used her status to influence the establishment of the Terengganu Investment Board (TIA), which was later known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was untrue.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah further denied, as detailed in the book, that she had helped fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, otherwise known as Jho Low, to become the TIA’s advisor.

Rewcastle-Brown, who is a British citizen, was previously charged in absentia at the Kuala Terengganu Magistrate’s Court on September 23, 2021.

She subsequently made an application to transfer the case to the Kuala Lumpur High Court. However, this was rejected by Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge K. Muniandy on June 21, last year.

Muniandy then ordered that the case remain on trial at the Kuala Terengganu Magistrate’s Court and that it should proceed without delay.

Sarawak Report editor Clare Newcastle-Brown appears on the screen during a group picture at Engage’s Freedom Fund press conference in Petaling Jaya May 9, 2024. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

Sarawak Report editor Clare Newcastle-Brown appears on the screen during a group picture at Engage’s Freedom Fund press conference in Petaling Jaya May 9, 2024. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

Freedom Fund 2.0 to prepare for settlement

To help her and the two publishers who had to pay Sultanah Nur Zahirah RM300,000 in damages and RM120,000 in legal cost, NGO, Engage Citizen Network is fundraising to collect RM292,000.

Rewcastle-Brown had already raised RM128,000 in the United Kingdom (UK).

“While the case is still under appeal to the Federal Court, the three respondents still have to standby the full sum in case the Federal Court upholds the Court of Appeal’s decision, and the amount is needed to be paid in full.

“However, should the Federal Court overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision and the money raised is no longer needed for these three respondents, it would remain as part of Freedom Fund 2.0 to help others that fulfill our support criteria,” the NGO said.

It added that the alleged defamation was a “simple matter of mistaken identity in the first version of Clare’s book The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé,” where the Sultan’s sister was misidentified as the Sultanah as the person who introduced Jho Low to the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

It added that though this error was corrected in subsequent versions of the book, the legal action continued.

“Furthermore, the government initiated another criminal defamation action against Clare and the case was moved to Terengganu, the complainant’s home state and the Magistrate Court sentenced Clare to two years jail in the absence of the accused (Clare). No notices, summons or information was given to Clare’s lawyers to prepare her defence or for her to appear. This is highly irregular and possibly illegal,” the NGO’s executive committee said, in a statement.

Engage added that, therefore, on the sixth anniversary of the 14th general election (GE14) it is appealing to the Malaysian public to stand with Rewcastle-Brown and the publishers, by donating RM10 for the trio’s courage in exposing corruption in Malaysia.

“We are grateful for their sacrifice to our nation, and we are appalled that they should still be punished for their noble deeds six years after GE14,” it added.

Engage cautioned that if the needed fund is not raised in time, this would have a negative effect on press freedom in Malaysia, that there are no guarantees that investigative journalism which exposes the powerful and the corrupt, will be defended by the citizens.