PUTRAJAYA: Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown and two others were ordered to pay RM300,000 for making defamatory statements against the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
The Court of Appeal made the ruling today citing that Rewcastle-Brown had defamed Sultanah Nur Zahirah in her book, "The Sarawak Report – The Inside Story of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) Exposé".
The three-member bench appellate court also ruled that the lower court was erred in dismissing the lawsuit last year.
On Oct 31, 2022, High Court judicial commissioner Dr John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee dismissed Sultanah Nur Zahirah's RM100 million lawsuit against the editor.
Apart from Rewcastle-Brown, the Sultanah also named book publisher Gerakbudaya Enterprise and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd as the other defendants.
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.
He said there were no defamatory imputations from the statements, although there was obviously a matter of mistaken identity.
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