This was the outcome in Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown’s failure to impose upon the trial judge and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to place a higher security as costs before Hadi’s defamation suit commences.
Lawyer Americk Sidhu said the court at this juncture was not convinced with Rewcastle Brown’s fear that she might have difficulty enforcing the judgment for costs which may be a substantial amount.
“The court there is not persuaded to believe that she could not enforce the judgment on grounds there may be political manipulation in the Malaysian judicial process,” he said.
Americk, who handles civil cases, said this when asked to explain why Rewcastle Brown was ordered to pay Hadi two-thirds of his costs when the court there refused her application.
Hadi’s political secretary Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said she has to pay £15,000 (RM83,700) to Hadi now, with the balance to be assessed by the court in due course.
The Islamist party leader, who filed the suit in April, was only ordered to place RM80,000 as security, in the event he loses the case filed against Rewcastle Brown.
The decision was made on Aug 2.
The legal firm of Carter-Ruck and barrister Jacob Dean, representing Hadi, had submitted that there existed well-established laws between the UK and Malaysia that allows Rewcastle Brown to claim the costs through the courts in Malaysia.
“Rewcastle Brown’s arguments that she cannot successfully bring a legal suit against TGHA (Hadi) in Malaysia as the judiciary, government and the prime minister are corrupted and are complicit with him (Hadi) was rejected by the court.
“As the court observed, these serious allegations were not supported by any evidence from CRB (Rewcastle Brown) whatsoever, despite having months to provide some.”
The Sarawak Report editor wants Hadi to deposit £800,000 (RM4.47 million) with the court so that she need not rely on the Malaysian courts to enforce the judgment, Samsuri said in a statement yesterday.
If Hadi wins the suit, the court will award him damages plus costs. However, if the trial judge dismisses the case, she is only entitled to costs.
The suit filed at the London High Court was in relation to an article Rewcastle Brown wrote in August 2016.
It has been reported that Sarawak Report ran an article in which it claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
The court also ordered Rewcastle Brown to submit her defence within 21 days.
London courts accept Hadi’s deposit offer in suit against SR editor