FORMER Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that he never received instructions from the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah, to appoint fugitive businessman, Low Taek Jho, to the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

Ahmad, 67, who was the menteri besar from 2008 to 2014, said he had also never received any advice or views on TIA from the sultanah.

He was under cross-examination by lawyer Haziq Pillay Abdullah, representing Sultanah Nur Zahirah, during the hearing of the defamation suit she filed against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown and two other parties today.

The suit was over Rewcastle-Brown’s allegations in the book, The Sarawak Report-The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose, in which Sultanah Nur Zahirah claimed had described her as an influential person who has the power to influence the Terengganu state government.

The two other defendants in the suit are Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.

“As the senior chief executive of the state, which established TIA, I never once saw Sultanah Nur Zahirah involved with TIA.

“Neither I nor the exco never appointed Jho Low as an adviser, or a member of the board of directors or any position in TIA.

“Never had I met or held a meeting with the sultanah when TIA was established. As such, I vehemently deny ever receiving instructions or orders that said the state government needed to appoint Jho Low, or anyone else,” he said when testifying online.

In his witness statement, Ahmad, who is third and last witness for the plaintiff, said the allegations made against the sultanah – that she used her position to influence the establishment of TIA – were false and completely unfounded.

This, he said, was because Sultanah Nur Zahirah never had a role, let alone influenced or was involved in the establishment of TIA.

Ahmad told the court that TIA was established by the state government when he was the menteri besar.

Sultanah Nur Zahirah filed the suit on November 21, 2018, contending that statements in the book meant that she had helped Low to become a TIA adviser.

The sultanah is claiming general damages of RM100 million from each defendant and is also seeking an order for the book to be withdrawn.

The hearing before Judicial Commissioner Dr John Lee Kien How Mohd Johan Lee continues. – Bernama, August 4, 2022.