SARAWAK Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown has filed her defence in the United Kingdom High Court against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s defamation suit, reports Free Malaysia Today.

Rewcastle-Brown told the portal that the defence and a counter-claim were filed against Hadi yesterday.

She, however, did not divulge details of the suit only saying the filing includes a summary of the lengthy full document.

Hadi sued the London-based journalist over an article which appeared on the whistle-blower site last August alleging that he received RM90 million in bribes from Prime Minister Najib Razak in return for support.

Lawyer S.N. Nair said Rewcastle-Brown would stand to receive costs and damages if the court dismissed Hadi’s suit and allowed the counter-claim (fresh suit).

“She would only stand to get costs if Hadi is unable to prove his case.

“Clare has gone another step to file an action against the PAS leader,” he was quoted as saying.

The Malaysian Insight reported that Rewcastle-Brown had asked who was funding Hadi’s suit as such cases are expensive in the UK.

She said Hadi’s lawyer in the UK has so far refused to reveal details of who was funding the suit.

“Nor have they explained why their client is suing in London and not in KL (Kuala Lumpur), where more than a handful of people have at least heard of Hadi Awang.”

She said in August Hadi should reveal if he or his party is footing the bill, which was estimated at £100,000 (RM600,000). 

She also attempted to make the court force Hadi to pay a deposit as security, should he lose the defamation suit.

The court decided that Rewcastle-Brown should pay Hadi £15,000 (RM83,700), or two-thirds of the cost of her application, with the quantum of the balance to be assessed by the court in due course.

The court did not accept her argument that she would not be able to bring a legal suit against Hadi in Malaysia, where the “judiciary, government and the prime minister are corrupted and are complicit with him”.

Hadi offered to pay a RM80,000 deposit, which the court accepted. – October 12, 2017.