KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General's Chambers wants to quash Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown's appeal over her two year jail sentence for defaming Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
Rewcaste-Brown's lawyer Guok Ngek Seong said deputy public prosecutor Engku Ahmad Rashidi Abdillah made the application during case management before Kuala Terengganu High Court judge Datuk Hassan Abdul Ghani today.
Guok said the prosecutor made the application because his client was absent despite the court order for her presence in today's proceedings.
However, the senior lawyer said they had informed the judge that they had filed submissions to address the issue of non-appearance, along with the petition of appeal.
He said the judge then fixed July 21 for the next case management, pending the record of appeal.
On Feb 7, Rewcastle-Brown was sentenced to two years in prison by the magistrate's court here after finding her guilty of defaming Sultanah Nur Zahirah under Section 500 of the Penal Code.
Magistrate Nik Mohd Tarmizie Nik Mohd Shukri said Rewcastle-Brown's action created a negative perception of Sultanah Nur Zahirah and damaged her good name and reputation.
"The slanderous remarks directly implicated the involvement of the Sultanah of Terengganu with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, who is suspected of being involved in the 1MDB scandal.
"This indirectly tarnishes the reputation of the Sultanah of Terengganu in the country's largest scandal," he said.
Tarmizie said the royal institution holds a special and highest position in the Constitution and is highly regarded by the people.
He said the defendant's failure to respect the Malaysian legal system by choosing to waive her right to attend the trial was also taken into consideration by the court in imposing the maximum sentence.
According to the charges, Rewcastle-Brown, who has a London, United Kingdom address, wrote a book titled "The Sarawak Report - The Inside Story of 1MDB Expose" which contains accusations against the Sultanah of Terengganu.
The specific defamatory content, highlighted on page three, paragraph four, and line seven, was the phrase "the wife of the Sultan," which was deemed a deliberate act aimed at tarnishing the reputation of Sultanah Nur Zahirah.
On Dec 12, last year, the controversial editor together and two others were ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay RM300,000 for making defamatory statements against Sultanah Nur Zahirah regarding the same matter.
This is after the appellate court overturned the High Court's decision, which had 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.
