SHOW PROOF OF PAS FUNDS, AMBIGA TOLD
Former Bar Council president breaks silence, says grievances against her should be taken to UK court
FORMER Bar Council president Datuk S. Ambiga should provide evidence to back her information provided to Sarawak Report about Pas receiving funds, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“If Ambiga is brave enough, she should provide evidence on the information given to Sarawak Report. Why must she make accu- sations if she has no proof?
“I pity Pas, which had to take legal action on things they had no knowledge about. Although Pas is a political party, she should not have sabotaged it with false accusations,” said Zahid.
He was speaking after visiting the first phase of the new Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs and Quarantine Complex project here yesterday.
Yesterday, Ambiga finally broke her silence on the issue.
Previously, she did not address the allegations against her directly, but instead, said the matter was for the British courts to decide. But now, she alleged that Pas leaders were seeking to conduct a mini trial against her in Malaysia.
“The recently disclosed defence and counterclaim in the (Datuk Seri) Abdul Hadi Awang vs Clare Rewcastle-Brown suit filed in the United Kingdom has, in Malaysia, been focused on two paragraphs in which I have been specifically named.
“I have refrained from comment for now, in view of the pending proceedings in the UK court.
“The forum for the proceedings in the UK was chosen by the claimant (Hadi), as he is perfectly entitled to do. It is, therefore, in the UK court that any request or demand for documents or information must be made.
“It is there that the responses to the serious allegations contained in the defence and counterclaim must be submitted.
“It is there that the trial will be held. In the UK. Not in Malaysia,” she said in a statement.
She said she had become a victim of intimidation and harassment by various quarters in the past few days, with sexist, racist and highly defamatory remarks directed at her.
“In my view, these are targeted acts of intimidation and harassment against me. They seriously undermine, and are disrespectful of the UK proceedings and may, in my view, amount to contempt of the UK court.
“As these acts may in one way or another be seen to be con- nected to Hadi, I believe he could be answerable to the UK court for them,” she said.
She called on those who had been vociferous in condemning her, and who were aggrieved in any way, to take those grievances to the UK court.
It was reported that Sarawak Report editor Rewcastle-Brown had named Ambiga as a source of information for alleging that top leaders in Pas had received money, estimated to be RM90 million.
According to her defence and counterclaim statement, Rewcastle-Brown said she had spoken to Ambiga in July last year regarding Najib, 1Malaysia Development Bhd and Pas. Additional reporting by Beatrice Nita Jay