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IN an interesting twist, the Editor-in-Chief of Sarawak Report, Clare Rewcastle Brown names former Bar Council President, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan as her key witness.
She also made more bold claims, which she claims she can corroborate with solid evidence.
There are several dimensions to this development, one of which is her primary defence of the statement as having been made in good faith, as a matter of public interest. By naming Ambiga as her witness, she intends to prove that the verbal claim made during her conversations with the said witness is sufficient to be published in her capacity as a political commentator.
By citing 'serious harm' as another aspect of her defence, she is also adding to this first dimension a claim that this case is invalid due to the fact that there had been no serious financial loss to the individual.
She is also attempting to extricate herself from this mess by claiming that she never specifically meant the person of MP Abdul Hadi Awang, President of the Islamist PAS Party - former member of Pakatan Rakyat the former incarnation of the political coalition proclaimed by Clare as her choice for the Malaysian rakyat.
Thus, there remains a possibility that she may get away with the 'public interest' defence, as subsection 4 of article 4 of the act in reference - the Defamation Act of 2013 - provides that, "In determining whether it was reasonable for the defendant to believe that publishing the statement complained of was in the public interest, the court must make such allowance for editorial judgement as it considers appropriate".
In other words, the presiding Judge will consider and allow for a degree of "editorial judgment as it considers appropriate".
This very appropriateness is key in her defence, and she needs to prove that she is not a malicious party with objectives other than merely being a "political commentator".
One way that this can be determined is to see whether the claims that Clare Rewcastle Brown had recently entered as her counter defence can actually be proven beyond any reasonable doubt - with the proper documentation.
These claims include that RM200 million had made it into the bank account of a PAS Deputy President Nasharudin Mat Isa, and that some of these monies had also contributed to enabling some PAS members in "acquiring new cars, new properties, and new wives", and that the documentation that she had entered would suffice to prove her case.
If she can unequivocally prove this, then the day may go to her, but if she cannot provide sufficient or even any unadulterated 'evidence' to support her case, then she certainly runs the risk of proving her malicious intent in making purposefully inaccurate and false claims based on hearsay, in order to influence the political course of a Sovereign nation.
In court, it is no longer "a matter of public interest", but rather a matter of provable claims - and Clare is risking being caught trying to use the court to play her own brand of propaganda politics by making a mirror image claim against her adversary while she is actually doing it herself.
Against the backdrop of her previously failed attempt at throwing accusations against the Malaysian Judiciary, we await with mouth agape at the boldness of her claim and await the myriad interesting ways she will come up with either to absolve herself, or dig her own grave ever deeper.
By naming Ambiga, she is confirming that she is in collusion with a figure that had long been associated with her work on a Malaysian 'regime change', and had also admitted to receiving a large sum of money from the Soros-founded Open Society Foundation.
To the claim that she never mentioned Abdul Hadi by name, but only made references as to monies that had "entered the accounts of top PAS leaders", Abdul Hadi may win this argument due to his capacity as the President of PAS, and thus reputationally has the most to lose due to the perception that he would have had the control in doling out such a huge amount of alleged bribe. All RM90 million of them.
As for the "serious harm" defence, the law specifically spelt out that, "A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant," which is to say that reputation loss is at the centre of what the Judge would consider in this case, however, as stressed in part 2 of this definition, that "harm to the reputation of a body that trades for profit is not 'serious harm' unless it has caused or is likely to cause the body serious financial loss," meaning to say that 'serious harm' in this case is dependent on the currency that is gained in the reputation.
In other words, for a business, their currency is money, and thus financial loss is required to to constitute 'serious harm', but for a politician, the currency would be the loss of support.
The emphasis on the phrase "is likely" is worth noting, because an actual loss in the number of support is not expected to be necessary, merely the possibility of it happening should suffice.
As a coup de grâce, Clare is attempting to compel Abdul Hadi Awang into entering his defence following her 'bombshell' of a counter-claim. It remains to be seen if the Judge would allow such a defence as being sufficient to compel the claimant to provide said defence.
This particular defence includes a claim that commentators such as Malaysia Today and blogger Raggy Jessy/The Third Force (RJ/TTF) are propaganda machines under instructions both by PM Najib and Abdul Hadi himself, setup in order to influence the court's decisions.
In her world, everyone who disagrees with her, or knows that she is up to no good would be branded a propagandist, and not herself.
It is her bogus Sarawak Report - ipso facto - that is nothing but propaganda, not the other way around, precisely to present to the Judge that she is the victim instead of the victimiser.
We hope that the presiding Judge would be wise enough to discern this fact, and that Abdul Hadi is able to stress this point as well.
And that is pretty much the crux of the matter: that a Judge, especially in the age of electronic media, would be trained not to be affected by the possibility of external media influence, and that she firstly needs to prove as to how she arrived at the conclusion that PM Najib and Abdul Hadi had their hands in controlling what MT and RJ/TTF publish instead of being mere political commentators themselves, however offensive their language or writings seem to her own warped out sense of what's right and what's wrong, before compelling that Abdul Hadi prove his innocence.
That is the long and short of what we can surmise thus far. An interesting development, certainly.
Now, we await the courtroom action unless something new comes up - as things usually do in cases such as these.
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1.
2. RELATED: SARAWAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE OF INFORMATION, SAYS REPORT
3. RELATED: CLARE: HADI, NAJIB COLLUDING TO EXPLOIT LONDON CASE PROCEEDING
4. RELATED: HADI WILL HAVE TO FILE DEFENCE TO CLARE'S CLAIM, SAYS LAWYER
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'RM90M FOR PAS': S'WAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE
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Clare (left) and Ambiga, who is named as the former's source.
Photo: Malaysiakini |
Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown has named former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan as part of her defence with regard to a defamation suit filed against her by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
Rewcastle-Brown claimed she had spoken to Ambiga in July 2016 on matters related to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, 1MDB and PAS [continues in subscription].
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1. 'RM90M FOR PAS': S'WAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE
2.
3. RELATED: CLARE: HADI, NAJIB COLLUDING TO EXPLOIT LONDON CASE PROCEEDING
4. RELATED: HADI WILL HAVE TO FILE DEFENCE TO CLARE'S CLAIM, SAYS LAWYER
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RELATED: SARAWAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE OF INFORMATION, SAYS REPORT
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Clare at a Bersih Rally in London, clearly campaigning for the Opposition party using a civil rights event as a cover. The Bersih movement admitted to having received money from George Soros' Open Society Foundation to exact 'regime change' in Malaysia.
Photo: The Malaysian Insight |
SARAWAK Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown has named former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan as a source of information for alleging that top leaders in PAS had received money from Prime Minister Najib Razak, Malaysiakini reported today.
According to the report, Rewcastle-Brown said she spoke to the former Bersih chairman in July 2016 regarding Najib, 1MDB and PAS.
"Ambiga had told the defendant that her sources, whom she said were reliable, had estimated the amount that had been paid was around RM90 million," said Rewcastle-Brown in her court filing dated October 11.
The court documents were filed in relation to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's defamation suit against Rewcastle-Brown in April this year.
Hadi claimed that he had been defamed in a Sarawak Report article entitled "As Najib denies all over 1MDB let's not forget his many other criminal connections" that was published on August 6, 2016.
The article suggested that money was in exchange for PAS support for Barisan Nasional.
Rewcastle-Brown said she published parts of her conversation with Ambiga in good faith as a political commentary on a matter of public interest, the report said.
The Sarawak Report editor said her statements were not directed at Hadi and any other individuals personally.
The filing also told the court Najib allegedly transferred more than RM200 million to former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa since 2014, to fund a particular PAS faction.
Rewcastle-Brown said former party leader and other top PAS officials had bought cars, properties or took new wives. She provided a long list of luxury vehicles bought by them.
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1. '90M FOR PAS': S'WAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE
2. RELATED: SARAWAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE OF INFORMATION, SAYS REPORT
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4. RELATED: HADI WILL HAVE TO FILE DEFENCE TO CLARE'S CLAIM, SAYS LAWYER
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RELATED: CLARE: HADI, NAJIB COLLUDING TO EXPLOIT LONDON CASE PROCEEDING
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Abdul Hadi Awang (right) is accused to collude with PM Najib to use Malaysia Today and The Third Force as an attempt to influence court decision.
Photo: FMT |
PETALING JAYA, OCTOBER 30, 2017 –
Clare Rewcastle Brown claims PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has colluded with Najib Razak or his agents to exploit the London court proceedings as part of their propaganda effort to exonerate the prime minister.
In her counter-claim in response to Hadi’s defamation suit, the whistleblower website editor said they want to discredit her and Sarawak Report in its justified campaign that Najib be removed from office and be brought to justice for his alleged corrupt and criminal conduct.
In court papers sighted by FMT, Clare said Hadi, whether by himself or his agents, had been party to the publication of a series of articles, viciously or racially abusing, defaming and harassing her on the Third Force and Malaysia Today websites.
In a counter-claim filed on October 11, she said these publications amounted to harassment and she wanted the court to award her damages for severe stress, anxiety and distress caused to her and an injunction restraining Hadi from further harassment.
Lawyer SN Nair had said Clare would stand to obtain costs and damages if the court dismissed Hadi’s suit and allowed the counter-claim.
Hadi filed his suit at the London High Court in April following an article she wrote on Aug 6 last year.
Sarawak Report ran an eight-paragraph article in which it claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Clare, in her defence to Hadi’s suit, said the PAS leader was not named or identified as being the object on any statement in the article.
She said allowing Hadi’s cause of action as the person referred to in the article would be disproportionate, unnecessary and unjustified interference and inhibition of her and the public right to freedom of expression, especially in the discussion of political matters.
Clare said Section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 required that it be proved that the publication of the statement complained of had caused serious harm to Hadi’s reputation.
She denies that such harm had been caused to Hadi.
Clare said Hadi filed the claim not to protect his image but for the illegitimate purpose of protecting the reputation and advancing the political purpose of PAS and his political ally, Najib.
She said the statements in the article were a matter of public interest, namely on corrupt and criminal history and activity, conduct and influence of the government, the political and judicial process in Malaysia and whether Najib was fit to hold public office.
Clare said she would prove that Hadi knowingly allowed PAS to be compromised and corrupted and the democratic process to be undermined by senior party personnel.
She said these officials accepted and personally benefited from enormous secret payments from Najib to undermine and withdraw the party from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
She said Hadi ‘s claim for damages and any injunction should also be dismissed.
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1. '90M FOR PAS': S'WAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE
2. RELATED: SARAWAK REPORT EDITOR NAMES AMBIGA AS SOURCE OF INFORMATION, SAYS REPORT
3. RELATED: CLARE: HADI, NAJIB COLLUDING TO EXPLOIT LONDON CASE PROCEEDING
4.
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RELATED: HADI WILL HAVE TO FILE DEFENCE TO CLARE'S CLAIM, SAYS LAWYER
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Lawyer SN Nair claims that Hadi now needs to enter his defence against Clare's as yet unsubstantiated counter claim.
Photo: Free Malaysia Today |
PETALING JAYA, OCTOBER 30, 2017 –
Abdul Hadi Awang has to file his defence to absolve the prime minister of accusations in response to Clare Rewcastle Brown’s claims that the PAS president has conspired with Najib Razak or his agents to exploit a court case in London, a lawyer said.
SN Nair said this must be done within a stipulated time as provided under the English court rules.
“Failure to do this will amount to Clare obtaining a judgement in her favour,” the lawyer told FMT.
Nair said he believed Hadi’s lawyers in London would rebut the counter-claim due to the serious allegations made.
He said this in response to the Sarawak Report editor who filed the counter-claim and defence to Hadi’s defamation suit filed in April.
In her counter-claim, the whistleblower website editor said they want to discredit her and Sarawak Report in its “justified campaign” that Najib be removed from office and be brought to justice for his alleged corrupt and criminal conduct.
In court papers sighted by FMT, Clare said Hadi, whether by himself or his agents, had been party to the publication of a series of articles, viciously or racially abusing, defaming and harassing her on the Third Force and Malaysia Today websites.
[Clare can sue these parties and prove in court that they are actually doing all these things to her, and if she has a strong case, she should sue to prove this claim first before expecting the court to simply accept it as fact, just on her say so. The quality of her 'evidence' is yet to be evaluated, but judging by what had transpired regarding her claims against the Malaysian judiciary being also in collusion with PM Najib and Abdul Hadi, we feel that this claim may go the same way as well. This is of course, up to the Judge to consider.]
In the counter-claim filed on October 11, she said these publications amounted to harassment.
In it, she has implicated Najib in the financial scandal of state investor 1MDB, the Scorpene submarine deal and the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, the prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy, endemic corruption and money politics in the 2013 general election.
Clare has also listed out at least 10 senior PAS officials from the ulama group who have been beneficiaries of money sourced from 1MDB.
Hadi filed his suit at the London High Court following an article she wrote on August 6 last year.
Sarawak Report ran an eight-paragraph article in which it claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Clare, in her defence to Hadi’s suit, said the PAS leader was not named or identified in any statement in the article.
She said Hadi’s suit was an infringement of her right and the public’s right to freedom of expression, especially in the discussion of political matters.
Clare said Hadi filed the claim not to protect his image but for the illegitimate purpose of protecting the reputation and advancing the political purpose of PAS and his political ally, Najib.
She said the statements in the article were a matter of public interest.
Nair said Hadi and Clare could also opt to strike out each other’s claim after their defence had been filed.
“But it must be filed before the trial commences,” he said, adding that it would interesting to see which personalities would give evidence.
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The NINE QUESTIONS Blog will return with more facts.
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