Information obtained by FMT also revealed that the Sarawak Report editor in the application had complained that Hadi was twisting the meaning of her words for the ulterior political purposes of his party rather than to defend his own reputation.
Hadi, meanwhile has applied to have a major portion of Rewcastle Brown’s defence of justification removed. If allowed to remain, the defence’s case would force a great deal of disclosure on the part of PAS.
The pre-trial hearing is scheduled between April 30 and May 2, during the time the Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and PAS here would be intensively campaiging for votes in the May 9 election.
Hadi filed his defamation suit at the London High Court following an article Rewcastle Brown wrote, which Sarawak Report published on Aug 6, 2017. The eight-paragraph article had alleged that RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
In her defence to Hadi’s suit last April, Rewcastle Brown said the PAS leader was not named nor identified in any statement in the article.
She said Hadi’s suit was an infringement of her right and the public’s right to freedom of expression, especially in the discussion of political matters.
Rewcastle Brown added that Hadi had filed the claim not to protect his image but for the illegitimate purpose of protecting the reputation and advancing the political purpose of PAS and his political ally, Umno president Najib Razak.
She claimed that the statements in her article were a matter of public interest.
In her counter-claim filed on Oct 11, she charged that Hadi conspired with Najib or his agents to exploit the court case to their advantage.
“They want to discredit me and Sarawak Report over our justified campaign that Najib be removed from office and be brought to justice for his alleged ‘corrupt and criminal conduct’,” she said in the court papers sighted by FMT.
Rewcastle Brown also claimed that Hadi, whether by himself or his agents, had been party to the publication of a series of articles, viciously or racially abusing, defaming and harassing her on the Third Force and Malaysia Today websites.
Hadi will have to file defence to Clare’s claim, says lawyer