PETALING JAYA: The Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah has filed suit against Sarawak Report's founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown and two others for defaming her in a book - "The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose".
Apart from Rewcastle-Brown, the Sultanah also named book publisher Gerakbudaya Enterprise and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd as the other defendants.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah filed the suit via the law firm of J. S. Pillay & Mohd Haaziq, here, today.
Lawyer Datuk Mohd Haaziq Abdullah representing the Sultanah said that he received consent from the palace to go ahead with the lawsuit on Tuesday.
He said case management has been set for Dec 19.
"After several months of discussions, no agreement for setlement was reached. We received a settlement offer, however it was not according to the terms set forth.
"We received consent from the Istana last night to continue with the defamation suit against the three parties. In accordance, we filed the defamation suit through the e-filing system at 2 pm, "he said.
However, he said the full details of the suit could not be made public at the moment.
"Claims and writs based on our previous letter of claim. All the details will be revealed when called in court later," he said
Also present were lawyers Mohd Hilmi Sarbini and SAK Vishu Kumar.
Earlier, Haaziq that they were surprised that the contents of the first and second editions of the book was different.
"We are only focusing on three pages of the books that have defamatory content.
"The first edition of the book states that it involved Sultanah Nur Zahirah while the second edition states that it involved the younger sister of the Sultan of Terengganu. We will present this in court, "he said.
Sultanah Nur Zahirah as the plaintiff named Rewcastle Brown , local producer of Gerakbudaya Enterprise and Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd printer as a defendant.
The Sultanah on Sept 29, through her counsel, had given Rewcastle Brown eight days to issue a “full written, unequivocal public retraction” of a passage in her book about the 1MDB scandal or face a RM100mil defamation suit.
A letter of demand was served to three parties, including Rewcastle Brown to make a public retraction and apology in terms to be approved by her lawyers by Oct 5.
A day earlier, Sarawak Report had apologised if the book led to any misinterpretation on the Sultanah’s part that it suggested that she was conspiring with businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, or was involved in the government administration in the 1MDB scandal.
The news outlet also clarified that it did not suggest she was linked to the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) or the 1MDB board in any way.