RSF condemns Malaysian court ruling in case aimed at silencing British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown
Malaysia’s highest court has dismissed British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown’s request to appeal against an Appeal Court ruling that found her guilty of defamation, leaving her liable to pay costs and damages of over RM 435,000 (GBP 76,600). Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns Malaysia’s handling of a case whose aim is to intimidate others seeking to report on corruption.
Rewcastle Brown is best known for her work exposing one of the biggest financial scandals in Malaysia’s history, known as 1MDB. In the years since, she has faced both criminal and civil proceedings which accuse her of defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, the wife of a senior political figure, in a book which was published in 2018. In February 2024, Rewcastle Brown was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail, a case she is still seeking to appeal.
In the parallel civil case, the High Court found in October 2022 that there had been no defamation, but that ruling was overturned in December 2023. On 10 September, Malaysia’s Federal Court refused to reconsider the case, closing the route to further legal challenge.
Once again, an abusive lawsuit is being used to punish Clare Rewcastle Brown for her brave and important public interest reporting. This case should never have made it to court. The accusations of defamation are nonsensical: the underlying agenda appears to be to silence Rewcastle Brown, and warn other Malaysian journalists away from reporting on corruption. We call on the Malaysian authorities to stop harassing journalists, and on the British government to call out this shocking pursuit of one of its citizens.
The cases relate to a line in Rewcastle Brown’s book about 1MDB, in which she incorrectly stated that the Sultan’s wife – rather than his sister – was friendly with a businessman involved in the scandal. There was no suggestion that either woman was linked to corrupt practices and Rewcastle Brown, recognising the mistake, quickly issued a correction.
The Federal Court’s ruling means Rewcastle Brown, who is editor-in-chief of online news site Sarawak Report, and her co-defendants – a local publisher and printer – will have to pay the Sultanah damages of RM 300,000 (GBP 52,800) and costs of RM 135,000 (GBP 23,800) which are likely to be augmented by further fees.
In the criminal case, Rewcastle Brown has been impeded from defending herself properly. The British government has not commented publicly on her case, despite the clear abuses of law.
A vibrant democracy in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has been affected by considerable political instability in recent years. The authorities still use defamation suits against journalists and defenders of press freedom and regularly block news websites critical to the government.
In response to Malaysia's drop to 107th rank out of 180 in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index, from 73rd in the previous edition, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil promised to “formulate sustainable efforts” to improve press freedom, a commitment to reforms which RSF offered to accompany and support.
The UK is ranked 23rd in the RSF Index.
