Slapped with RM100m defamation suit but Rewcastle-Brown unaware

Clare Rewcastle-Brown (above), the editor of whistleblower website The Sarawak Report, is unaware of an RM100 million defamation lawsuit filed against her by V Mabel Muthayyah, a former secretariat head in the Attorney-General’s Chambers. 

Rewcastle-Brown told Malaysiakini she had only received a letter of demand, emailed a few days ago, demanding RM100 million for lost earnings. This was after Mabel allegedly lost her role working for the public prosecutor following the publication of an article in 2015. 

Rewcastle-Brown said the article had passed the statutory limitation for libel complaints in the UK. 

It was published in December 2015 in the UK, and not published in Malaysia because The Sarawak Report was banned and blocked by the BN administration.

"I have certainly received no formal writ from either jurisdiction that would require a response,” she said.

Earlier today, Mabel's lawyer David Gurupatham told Malaysiakini that Rewcastle-Brown is being sued for "a very serious allegation levelled against a member of the administration of justice."

"The claim is RM100 million inclusive of aggravated and exemplary damages against Rewcastle-Brown, together with an injunction from further causing defamation, as well as a mandatory order for her to remove such posting from the website," he said.

The Sarawak Report article, titled "How AG's Office connived to prevent a second postmortem on Kevin Morais - Exclusive exposé," alleged that Mabel sent texts to the family members of late deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais, urging them to expedite the cremation of his remains to prevent a second postmortem. 

The remains of Morais were found in a steel drum after he was kidnapped from his car on the way to work in September 2015.

A former army doctor and five others have been charged with his murder.