Clare claims to have fresh evidence against PAS over legal case
PETALING JAYA: Sarawak Report (SR) editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown believes she has obtained more evidence to prove PAS had received money, amounting to some RM90 million, from Umno in 2016.
In an interview with BFM radio station yesterday, she revealed that she had recently withdrawn her defence against PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s defamation suit in order to add more materials, which she claimed would be filed at the end of next month.
She said it was the suit by Abdul Hadi, against an article she wrote in August 2016, that eventually led her to discovering fresh evidence as she scoured for more details and information to help her in her defence.
“I didn’t really say it was Hadi who was taking money from (then prime minister) Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak. That’s what they said I meant, but of course it’s not what I said.
“I was writing (the article) in the aftermath of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s accusation of PAS receiving ‘dedak’ (animal feed) from Umno,” she said.
“I was one of the few people who could report that widespread belief (that PAS received money). And that’s what I said, that there was a widespread belief, and the figure I used was based on research produced at that time and that I’ve heard of.
“I was subsequently forced to look at that relationship more closely thanks to the legal action, and I now have a great deal more of evidence than I did,” she added.
The suit, which was filed by Abdul Hadi in April 2017, was related to an article published on the whistleblower website that claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and BN.
The London High Court had reportedly set a provisional date for a full trial for 10 days from April 1 to 12, 2019.
Meanwhile, former Petrosaudi International director Andre Xavier Justo ( pix below) was spotted leaving Yayasan Perdana yesterday after a meeting with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the second between both men after an initial meeting on Sunday.
Justo is alleged to have previously shared information on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) with RewcastleBrown, who flew in on Friday after the new government withdrew an arrest warrant issued against her.
Justo had obtained valuable information, including emails, documents and other materials from Petrosaudi International after stealing 90 gigabytes of data from the company, which is believed to have had dealings with the state investment arm.
He was subsequently sentenced to three years’ jail by the South Bangkok Criminal Court but had his sentence cut short after being granted two separate royal pardons by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej in August, and subsequently by the newly-ascended King Maha Chakri Bodindradevarangkun.