KUALA TERENGGANU – The prosecution requested the high court to strike out the appeal by Clare Rewcastle-Brown, Sarawak Report’s founder and editor, against her conviction and two-year prison sentence for defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
State prosecution director Engku Ahmad Rashdi Engku Abdillah conveyed the request during a case management session before judge Datuk Hassan Abdul Ghani today.
Engku Ahmad Rashdi contended that the appeal should be struck out on the grounds of Rewcastle-Brown’s continuous absence from the entire court proceedings, including the prosecution, conviction, and appeal stages.
“I understand that the honourable judge had issued an order for the appellant to be present at today’s case management. Nevertheless, the appellant has once again failed to appear.
“Therefore, I humbly request the striking out of this appeal on the grounds of the appellant’s persistent absence from the proceedings, from the magistrate’s court right up to the high court.
“This absence effectively constitutes a waiver of her right to participate in these court proceedings,” he stated.
He said the conduct of the defendant appeared to be aimed at delaying the court proceedings.
Rewcastle-Brown’s lawyer Guok Ngek Seong, requested to respond to the prosecution’s arguments. However, judge Hassan advised him to address the matter at the next hearing on July 21, as the appeal record from the magistrate’s court had not been received yet.
The judge also reiterated the order for the appellant to be present at the next proceeding.
Speaking to reporters, Guok mentioned that his team had submitted a brief argument concerning the appellant’s absence.
“For today’s case management, we also filed the appeal petition last Tuesday after the magistrate’s court provided the judgement grounds on the same day,” he said.
During the initial proceedings of Rewcastle-Brown’s appeal management on May 7 last year, Judge Hassan directed her to appear in court for today’s case management.
On February 7 last year, the magistrate’s court here sentenced Rewcastle-Brown to two years in prison after she was found guilty of defaming Sultanah Nur Zahirah under Section 500 of the Penal Code.
According to the charges, Rewcastle-Brown, residing in London, authored a book titled The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé, containing defamatory statements against the Sultanah of Terengganu.
The defamatory statement, highlighted on page three, paragraph four, line seven, which Rewcastle-Brown knew would harm Sultanah Nur Zahirah’s reputation, was committed at 8am on September 14, 2018, at Lot 60048, Taman Chendering Utama.
Rewcastle-Brown was initially charged in absentia under Section 500 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, a fine, or both at the Kuala Terengganu magistrate’s court on September 23, 2021.
She subsequently applied to transfer the case to the Kuala Lumpur High Court. However, on June 21, 2023, judge K. Muniandy dismissed the application, keeping the case in the Kuala Terengganu magistrate’s court. – June 6, 2024