KUALA LUMPUR – Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown says she fears the recent Terengganu magistrate’s court ruling may impact her ability to travel freely.
This is after the court sentenced her to two years’ jail in absentia on February 7 for defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
The verdict was issued by magistrate Nik Mohd Tarmizie Nik Mohd Shukri after the 65-year-old was found guilty of the offence.
The court had previously issued an arrest warrant for Rewcastle-Brown for failing to attend the charge proceedings.
The trial was conducted in absentia under Section 425A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
She was charged under Section 500 of the Penal Code for issuing defamatory statements in her book, The Sarawak Report – The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé.
In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Rewcastle-Brown claimed that she was being targeted for her work on the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
She said she was not notified in advance nor given the opportunity to defend herself in court.
Her lawyers have already requested the ruling be set aside by a higher court on violations of the criminal procedure code.
“I’m afraid this is malicious, it is politically motivated. And I see it as revenge for my public interest journalism.
“I think there are a lot of very powerful and wealthy people in Malaysia who are revengeful that I identified the corruption of their former prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) who remains popular and powerful and wealthy.
“And I think that it’s no coincidence that just two or three days after he (Najib) failed to get a pardon from the Malaysian king that would have let him out of jail after a fraction of his sentence, that this sentence was then passed against me,” she said.
Rewcastle-Brown also claimed that the Malaysian authorities have twice before applied for an Interpol red notice for her on charges related to her 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) reporting.
Interpol denied the previous two applications, she said.
She added that she is requesting support from the British government and various non-governmental organisations, such as the CPJ and Index on Censorship, over the matter.
The BBC report said it remains unclear whether Malaysian authorities will once again pursue an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest following the recent court ruling.
The UK’s national broadcaster said it has reached out to the Kuala Terengganu magistrates’ court for comments.
Born in Sarawak, Rewcastle-Brown has two sons with her husband, Andrew Brown, a media strategist and former journalist who is the younger brother of former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
She founded the investigative website Sarawak Report in 2010, which made her name as a journalist and environmental campaigner focused on corruption in the lucrative palm oil trade.
She hopes to one day return to Malaysia without the threat of imprisonment.
“I will just keep going.
“I’m just one of many, many journalists campaigning to support the right of journalists to do their job, which is to bring information in the public interest to a wider audience,” she said.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah had previously filed a defamation suit against Rewcastle-Brown for claims made in the latter’s book.
The sultanah had demanded RM100 million in general damages.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah, who filed the suit on November 21, 2018, claimed that the defamatory claims had, among others, insinuated that she was involved in corrupt practices and had meddled in the Terengganu state government’s administrative affairs.
According to the suit, the book also claimed that the sultanah had used her status to influence the establishment of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which later became known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
The suit claimed that the allegations in the book stated that the sultanah had played a role in helping fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, become an advisor to TIA.
Rewcastle-Brown, in the BBC interview, said there was a misidentification error in the book that was corrected back in 2018.
She apologised for the error; however, her legal team has argued that the error is neither defamation nor criminal libel.
“I do fear that there has been manipulation in this case, and I do not seek to lay blame for that at the feet of the sultanah. She was understandably annoyed,” Rewcastle-Brown said. – February 12, 2024