KUALA LUMPUR – Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown has been ordered to pay RM300,000 in damages to Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah after the Federal Court dismissed her application for leave to appeal a ruling by the Court of Appeal.
The three-member bench ruled that Rewcastle-Brown did not meet the requirements under the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to proceed with her appeal. The court also found that the legal questions she raised had been addressed in previous cases and did not involve matters of public interest.
Further, the questions raised by Rewcastle-Brown to justify her appeal have been answered in previous cases and failed to show any issues of public importance.
Based on the Federal Court’s judgment, Rewcastle-Brown appears to have raised several questions on how alleged defamatory words are to be interpreted during litigation.
However, in their decision, the Federal Court mentioned that there was a “convoluted linguistic and grammatical exercise and analysis undertaken which is contrary to the accepted and trite approach when comprehending if the words are defamatory or not”.
While acknowledging the significance of Rewcastle-Brown’s book The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé, the court stressed that its importance does not exempt her from defamation laws.
The court ruled that Rewcastle could provide extrinsic evidence on whether or not particular words in the book were not defamatory, as the law dictates that meaning to the words would be accorded by “the hypothetical and reasonable Malaysian reader”.
“It is trite law that it is the natural and ordinary meaning of the words that are to be considered in determining whether the words are defamatory or not,” the judgment said.
Nevertheless, the Federal Court also acknowledged that the significance of Rewcastle-Brown’s book “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé” cannot be underplayed, but also warned that it would not give her immunity from defaming other third parties.
“We have also considered the prospects of success and are clear that even if leave is granted, the prospects of success are slim,” the Federal Court said.
The three-panel coram comprised Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
In December last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that Rewcastle-Brown along with Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd would have to pay damages amounting to RM300,000 to Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
Previously, the Court of Appeal ruled that a statement made in Rewcastle-Brown’s book linking Nur Zahirah to fugitive financier Low Taek Jhow was defamatory.
“Jho was also friendly with a key player in Terengganu, the wife of the Sultan, whose acquiescence was needed to set up the fund, and he later cited her support as having been crucial to his obtaining the advisory position.” – September 10, 2024