KOTA BARU: State Pas leaders were shocked to learn that former Bar Council president Datuk Sreenevasan Ambiga was the source of a Sarawak Report’s article that is now at the centre of a defamation suit.
Deputy Menteri Besar and Pas vice-president, Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said before this, the party had suspected another individual as the source. It never occurred to them that Ambiga was the informer.
He said, before this, Ambiga’s name has never been brought up or linked to the defamation suit.
In an article carried by online news portal, The Malaysian Insight, it was stated that Sarawak Report’s editor, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, had made claims in a court filing on Oct 11 that she spoke to Ambiga in July last year about Najib, 1Malaysian Development Bhd (1MDB), and Pas.
Rewcastle-Brown also claimed that her sources, whom she said were reliable, had estimated the amount that had been paid was around RM90 million.
Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had sued Sarawak Report in which he claimed his name has been tarnished by a Sarawak Report article titled “As Najib denies all over 1MDB let’s not forget his many other criminal connections”, which was published on Aug 6, last year.
The article had implied that money was given in return for Pas’s support to Barisan Nasional.
Mohd Amar had added that Pas would not comment further on the case and would let their lawyers proceed with the case.
"Our lawyers have advised us not to comment on this issue as it will affect the proceedings of the case.
"We will also leave it to the authorities to take next course of action against those who had spread documents on the court case on social media," he said.