KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Terengganu High Court on Sunday ruled that the earlier defamation trial conducted in absentia against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown was invalid, ordering that the case be reheard before a new magistrate.
High Court Judge Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Harun held that the proceedings before the Magistrate’s Court amounted to a mistrial, effectively setting aside both the conviction and the two-year prison sentence imposed earlier.
In his judgment, Mohd Radzi explained that as the trial had been declared a mistrial, the charge against Rewcastle-Brown remains in force, but the legal doctrines of autrefois acquit and autrefois convict do not apply, as there was no valid trial in the first place.
Unless the public prosecutor decides otherwise within his statutory powers, the judge ordered that the case be mentioned before a different magistrate with a view to conducting a retrial on the same charge.
He further directed that the magistrate handling the retrial should re-summon prosecution witnesses and record their testimony, even if the accused remains absent from court.
The appeal proceedings were prosecuted by deputy public prosecutors Azizan Abdullah, Mohd Khairuddin Idris and Nor Aishah Mohamad, while Rewcastle-Brown, who was not present, was represented by her lawyer, Guok Ngek Seong.
On February 7, 2024, the Magistrate’s Court in Kuala Terengganu sentenced Rewcastle-Brown, 66, to two years’ imprisonment in absentia after finding her guilty of defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah, under Section 500 of the Penal Code.
The sentence was ordered to take effect from the date of conviction, despite the accused never having appeared before the court.
Rewcastle-Brown subsequently filed an appeal at the High Court seeking to quash both her conviction and sentence, arguing that the trial process violated fundamental principles of criminal justice.
Speaking to reporters after the ruling, Guok said the High Court had agreed with the defence’s submission that, as a matter of law, an accused person must first be brought before the court to be formally charged.
Only thereafter, he said, could the court consider whether it would be fair to proceed with a trial in absentia.
When asked whether his client would appear for the charge and retrial, Guok said the matter remained uncertain, noting that extraditing Rewcastle-Brown would be difficult due to the absence of a formal extradition treaty between Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
