KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown will receive a fair trial in her criminal defamation case at the Terengganu magistrate's court even though the case is linked to the state's monarch, the High Court heard today.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Noor Haslinda Che Seman also gave her assurance that there would be no interference from the state palace in the case.
"There was no such thing (interference) from the palace throughout the process of the prosecution. The court officer will carry out their duties regardless of whether the case involves royalty or otherwise. The applicant failed to show how the lower court in Kuala Terengganu would behave unfairly if they heard the case," she said in her submission to object Rewcastle-Brown's application to transfer her criminal defamation case from the Kuala Terengganu magistrate's court to the High Court here.
Rewcastle-Brown, who is from the United Kingdom, was charged in absentia at the Kuala Terengganu magistrate's court on Sept 23, 2021, for criminal defamation under Section 500 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both, if convicted.
The case was related to several paragraphs in her book 'The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé' which linked Terengganu's Sultanah Nur Zahirah to the fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.
Judge Muniandy Kannayappan fixed June 21 for the decision.
Rewcastle-Brown also submitted a representation letter to the Attorney-General's Chambers to drop the charge following a decision by the civil court related to the case last year.
On Oct 31, judicial commissioner Dr John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee dismissed a RM100 million defamation suit by the Sultanah against Rewcastle-Brown as there were no defamatory statements in the defendant's (Rewcastle-Brown's) book. The impugned statement in question read: "Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, 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."
Johan, in his ruling, said there were no negative implications from the two imputations in the case despite the defendant's factual error, in which she acknowledged accidentally referring to the plaintiff when the Sultan's sister was intended.
The case is now pending an appeal by the Sultanah at the Appellate Court.