PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set December 12 as the date for its verdict on the appeal made by Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah, in her defamation lawsuit against Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of Sarawak Report, and two others.
The three-member bench, consisting of Justices Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli, scheduled the date after listening to the arguments presented by A. Vishu Kumar, the counsel for Sultanah Nur Zahirah, and lawyer Americk Sidhu, who represented Rewcastle-Brown and the other two respondents, during an online proceeding on September 22.
“We require some time to give our decision,” stated Justice Hadhariah, who chaired the bench.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah is appealing against the ruling by the High Court on October 31 last year, which rejected her lawsuit against Rewcastle-Brown, Chong Ton Sin, the publisher of Gerakbudaya Enterprise, and Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd, the printer.
She asserted that the three respondents had defamed her in a book titled “The Sarawak Report – The Inside 1MDB Expose”.
During the earlier proceeding, Vishu argued that the High Court judge, Dr John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan, had made an error in deciding that the statement in the book was not defamatory towards Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
He claimed that the respondents did not provide any evidence to prove the truth of the statement, and their defense of justification failed because they did not verify the accuracy of the statement.
Vishu stated that Sultanah Nur Zahirah should be awarded damages due to the severity of the liability. He pointed out that the damage to her reputation was significant, given that more than 2,000 copies of the book had been sold.
He further argued that the court should consider the fact that Sultanah Nur Zahirah is the chancellor of two universities, involved in charity work, and previously held the position of Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia.
Additionally, he asserted that even though the respondents made an amendment to the book by changing the reference to Sultanah Nur Zahirah to the Sultan’s sister, her reputation is still tarnished because no apology, retraction, or withdrawal can completely undo the harm caused by the libel.
Meanwhile, Americk Sidhu contended that the High Court judge was correct in dismissing Sultanah Nur Zahirah’s claim. He added that the judge must have thoroughly examined the issues before concluding that the contents of the passage in the book could not be defamatory towards Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
He suggested that if the appellate court decided to overturn the High Court’s decision and deemed the statement defamatory, the damages awarded should be nominal.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah filed the lawsuit on November 21, 2018, asserting that the mentioned statement, among others, implied her involvement in corruption, interference in the administration of the Terengganu government, and using her status to influence the establishment of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which later became known as 1MDB.
She also alleged that the statement implied she had aided Jho Low in becoming a TIA adviser.
In her statement of claim, the Sultanah sought general damages of RM100 million from each respondent and requested an order for the publisher to withdraw the book containing the alleged defamatory statement and for the printer to cease its printing. – Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
