THE sultanah of Terengganu is suing the Sarawak Report editor for defamation because she wishes to clear her name, said the lawyer for the former.

Lead counsel Mohd Haaziq Pillay Abdullah said his client, Sultanah Nur Zahirah was adamant the suit, which was today filed electronically to the Kuala Lumpur High Court, should proceed.

“The main purpose is to clear her name because this offending passage has caused a lot of distress to Her Royal Highness,” Haaziq told a press conference at his office in Petaling Jaya today. 

“We are asking for a determination that the book written by Clare (Rewcastle-Brown) is libellous.”

Co-counsel Vishnu Kumar and palace lawyer Hilmi Sarbini were also present.. 

Haaziq said the court was “the best forum” to settle a dispute. 

“If you are not happy with something, you go to the courts and you seek a remedy from the courts so that way no one can speculate. Third parties such as net citizens, bloggers, anyone would not make assumptions because the matter has been brought to court. 

“There are two sides to a coin. People can make all kinds of allegations but if you do not clear your name, it is going to be very hurtful.

“And the best way to clear your name is to go through the process of law which is provided for by the defamation act.”

Case management is set to December 19. 

The suit also names publisher Gerakbudaya and printers Vinlin Press as defendants. 

The plaintiff was unable to disclose the amount it seeks in damages. In a press conference on September 29, however, Haaziq said the sultanah was seeking RM100 million from each defendant and had pledged to donate to charity the full sum awarded by the court.

Haaziq said she would not be seeking an injunction as that would be “purely academic”.

“We are not seeking an injunction because the damage is already done. An injunction is to prevent a wrong, under a specific relief act, from happening. But now the wrong has happened. ‘Nasi dah jadi bubur’.”

Sultanah Nur Zahirah is suing Rewcastle-Brown for alleging the royal had conspired with businessman Low Taek Jho in the multi-billion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Rewcastle-Brown made the claim in her book, “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of 1MDB Exposé” launched in September.

The author alleges on page 3 that Low had the sultanah’s support to obtain an official advisory position in 1MDB.

A second edition no longer has the reference to the sultanah.

The sultanah has denied meeting Low or supporting him in securing any role at 1MDB or Terengganu Investment Authority, as 1MDB was formerly known.

She has also denied being involved in either organisation and interfering in government affairs.

Her lawyers rejected offers to settle last month, saying the terms failed to meet the criterion of an unconditional apology.

Rewcastle-Brown previously said on Sarawak Report that she was sorry if the sultanah “has been upset by any misinterpretations of our meaning”.

She said she did not suggest that the sultanah was “in a conspiracy” with Low, better known as Jho Low, or that the sultanah was in any way connected to TIA.“We note that the connection between Jho Low and the Terengganu royal family was, in fact, far closer to the sister of the sultan, with whom Jho was directly connected in a business sense, and her husband,” Rewcastle-Brown said.

Terengganu Investment Authority was renamed 1MDB in 2009 during the Najib Razak administration. – November 21, 2018.