UK Scribe Blasts KL Conviction As "Political Revenge"

UK journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown has accused Malaysia of seeking "political revenge" for her reporting after a court sentenced her in absentia.

Rewcastle Brown told the BBC she was being targeted after her work on the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. I Photo: Human Rights Foundation

The 64-year-old is appealing a surprise conviction for criminal defamation of a Malaysian royal handed down this week. Leisha Chi-Santorelli reported for BBC News.

A local magistrates' court sentenced her to two years in prison during a single-day hearing. Rewcastle Brown told the BBC she was being targeted after her work on the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

The scandal involved $4.5 billion (£3.9 billion) stolen from the Malaysian sovereign fund founded by former Prime Minister Najib Razak, in what is thought to be the world's largest kleptocracy case.

It ensnared top Hollywood celebrities, brought down bankers from Goldman Sachs, and saw the first criminal charges filed against the storied Wall Street firm. Najib was jailed in 2022 but still faces a raft of other charges. He denies all wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, the Kuala Terengganu Magistrates' Court ruled that Rewcastle Brown had criminally defamed Malaysia's former Queen Nur Zahirah in her book “The Sarawak Report - The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose.”

Ms. Rewcastle Brown said she was not notified in advance nor given the opportunity to defend herself in court. "I'm afraid this is malicious, it is politically motivated. And I see it as revenge for my public interest journalism," she told the BBC.

"I think there are a lot of very powerful and wealthy people in Malaysia who are revengeful because I identified the corruption of their former prime minister [Najib Razak], who remains popular, powerful, and wealthy."

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