KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown has filed an application to stay the hearing of a RM100 million civil defamation suit filed by Terengganu's Sultanah Nur Zahirah against her over contents in her book about 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) that was scheduled to run for the whole of this week.

The application was filed together with Gerakbudaya Enterprise and Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd, the publisher and printer, respectively, of the book titled “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé”, which the sultanah alleged contained contents that are defamatory to her.

The parties sought to stay the civil proceedings pending the outcome of the criminal charge for defamation that Rewcastle Brown is facing in relation to contents in the same book.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah's counsel Datuk Mohd Haziq Pillay informed theedgemarkets.com of this following case management of the matter on Wednesday before High Court Judicial Commissioner John Lee Kien How @ Mohammad Johan Lee. Lee also asked her highness to affirm an affidavit in reply to the stay application by Rewcastle Brown, Gerakbudaya and Vinlin.

“As a result, the scheduled hearing this week has been vacated. Lee informed parties that he will make a decision on the stay application on March 4 next year,” he said.

Rewcastle Brown's counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, when contacted by theedgemarkets.com, confirmed the matter.

Lee took over the case after the initial judge assigned to hear the suit, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, was elevated to the Court of Appeal (COA).

Last August, the COA allowed Rewcastle Brown, Gerakbudaya and Vinlin's appeal for the trial to proceed via oral testimonies and not via points of law or affidavit.

Haziq then indicated that the sultanah might testify via videoconferencing due to security reasons.

The suit was filed in 2019, in which the sultanah claimed that Rewcastle Brown had made a disparaging statement about her in the book.

The sultanah claimed that the statement could be taken to mean that she was involved in corrupt practices and interfered in the state's administration, besides using her status to influence the establishment of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which later became 1MDB.

She also alleged that the statement had construed her as having helped businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) become the adviser of TIA.

She further contended that she had never involved herself in Terengganu's administration and the establishment of TIA (1MDB's predecessor). As such, she said the statement had slandered and tarnished her reputation.

The sultanah is claiming general damages of RM100 million from each defendant and also seeking an order for the publisher to withdraw the book and for the printer to stop printing it.

On Sept 23 this year, Malaysian prosecutors levelled a criminal defamation charge against Rewcastle Brown over the same issue.

She was charged in absentia under Section 500 of the Penal Code, which states that whoever defames another can be jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.

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