KUALA LUMPUR: The hearing of a defamation suit filed by the Sultanah of Terengganu against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown will proceed after the High Court dismissed the latter’s application to stay the proceedings.

       Lawyer Datuk Mohd Haaziq Pillay, who represented Sultanah Nur Zahirah, confirmed that the stay application was dismissed by Judicial Commissioner Dr John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee during online proceedings here yesterday.

       Mohd Haaziq said the court has fixed April 4 for case management to schedule the trial dates.

       The court also ordered RM5,000 for costs.

       Rewcastle Brown’s lawyer Mervyn Lai said the court dismissed the stay application on the grounds that there were no special circumstances justifying a stay.

       He said the court was also of the opinion that the stay application would deprive the plaintiff (the Sultanah) of having her case heard and decided.

       On Nov 21, 2018, Sultanah Nur Zahirah sued Rewcastle Brown or Clare Louis Brown, Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin and printer Vinlin Press, as the first to third defendants, alleging that the first defendant had made a disparaging statement about her in her book, The Sarawak Report – The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose.

       Sultanah Nur Zahirah claimed that the statement construed her as having helped fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, become an adviser of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

       The plaintiff claimed the statement could be taken to mean that she was involved in corrupt practices and interfered in Terengganu’s administration besides using her status to influence the establishment of TIA, which later became 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

       Sultanah Nur Zahirah contended that she had never involved herself in the administration of Terengganu state and the establishment of TIA and therefore the statement had slandered and tarnished her reputation.

       She is claiming general damages of RM100mil from each defendant and is seeking an order for the second defendant (publisher) to withdraw the book containing the defamatory statement and for the third defendant to stop further printing of the book.

       In their defence statements, the three defendants denied making allegations that the plaintiff was involved in corrupt practices.

       Rewcastle Brown also claimed that Sarawak Report had never suggested that the plaintiff was involved in a conspiracy involving Jho Low and had also never suggested that the plaintiff was involved in the government’s administration related to 1MDB affairs.