Lawyers confirmed today that Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, along with two others, have been named in a defamation suit filed by the Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahira over a passage in the journalist’s book about the 1MDB financial scandal.
Representing the Sultanah, lawyer Mohd Hazziq Pillay Abdullah, told media that his client was suing not only Ms. Rewcastle-Brown, but also her publisher Gerakbudaya Enterprise, as well as the book’s printer, Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.
Mohd Hazziq confirmed with Malay Mail that the suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, adding that the trio did not comply with previous demands to retract the comment, and cease circulating the book. Declining to confirm the amount of money being sought, previous warning carried an RM100 million (US$25 million) compensation demand, with any money won going to charity.
The defendant was reportedly left distressed by a particular passage on page three of The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose, which her lawyer has said caused “distress, embarrassment and injury” to her reputation. Previous statements highlighted that the page in the book read as though the Sultanah both knew of corruption and had close ties with fugitive financier Jho Low. The plaintiff also alleged that they were never involved with the establishment of 1MDB’s predecessor, the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).
Earlier this year, the Sultanah had given the three named in the suit eight days to apologize, retract their statements, and cease selling the book. While the online portal published an apology of sorts, expressing regret that the Sultanah misread the passage, they maintained that they never suggested anything of the sort, and that careful reading would make that clear.
In other words, not really sorry then.
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