Warrant of arrest issued for Sarawak Report editor after no-show in court

The Magistrate’s Court in Kuala Terengganu today issued a warrant of arrest for Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown for failing to attend court to face a charge of defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah.

Magistrate Nordiana Abd Aziz issued the warrant following an application by the prosecution.

The court then set Nov 23 for mention.

Deputy public prosecutors Engku Ahmad Rashdi Engku Abdillah, Noor Haslinda Che Seman and Nadia Zulkefli appeared for the prosecution.

Rewcastle-Brown was supposed to appear in court today to face a charge under Section 500 of the Penal Code for making a disparaging statement about Sultanah Nur Zahirah in her book, “The Sarawak Report – The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose”.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah, who filed the suit on Nov 21, 2018, claimed that the disparaging statement by Rewcastle-Brown could be taken to mean that she was involved in corrupt practices and had interfered in Terengganu’s administration besides using her status to influence the establishment of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) which later became 1MDB.

She claimed that the statement also construed her as having helped fugitive businessman Jho Low or Low Taek Jho become the adviser of TIA.