PAS' Takiyuddin says no payment made to Rewcastle Brown; her lawyer says, we have the cheque

PETALING JAYA: PAS stands by its statement that neither the party nor its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang paid anything to Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown, despite the latter's lawyer saying the cheque from PAS has been cleared.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan also said Abdul Hadi did not breach any confidentiality agreement, as claimed by Rewcastle Brown.

“When we referred to the settlement, we were merely stating our defence over the allegation made by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Semenyih that PAS paid RM1.4mil to Rewcastle Brown.

“PAS and Abdul Hadi paid nothing to Rewcastle Brown, and we stand by that.

“The settlement was made between the claimant and defendant, and Abdul Hadi as the claimant did not breach the confidentiality agreement by stating that PAS did not pay anything to the defendant.

“It was Rewcastle Brown who had breached the agreement by revealing everything,” he claimed.

Rewcastle Brown’s lawyer Americk Sidhu confirmed that he received a cheque of more than RM1.4mil on behalf of his client, Rewcastle Brown, as an out-of-court settlement for Abdul Hadi’s libel suit.

“Yes, I did and I banked it into my client’s account. That is the exact cheque that I received,” he said.

Americk said the money was held in escrow until the two parties had resolved all the prerequisites.

“The money was placed in the account pending all the preliminaries being fulfilled.

“Once the preliminaries were fulfilled, followed by the court order obtained from the London court, then only was I permitted to release the money to Rewcastle Brown,” he said.

Americk argued that it was not Rewcastle Brown who had breached the confidentiality agreement but Takiyuddin, by denying that monies was paid to settle the case out of court.

He added that Rewcastle Brown had previously honoured the confidentiality agreement when she had told several news agencies that she had “no comment” on the matter after Anwar claimed he had proof that PAS had paid RM1.4mil to settle the suit.

Following Takiyuddin’s denial, Americk said Rewcastle Brown had no choice but to defend herself.

Earlier Friday (March 1), she revealed in Sarawak Report, copies of documents and a cheque that was allegedly paid to settle the suit between Abdul Hadi and her in London.

In 2017, Abdul Hadi had sued her for libel in London over an August 2016 Sarawak Report article that had alleged that PAS received RM90mil to guarantee its support for Umno and Barisan Nasional.

She filed a counterclaim in October 2017 and on Feb 1 this year, Abdul Hadi opted for an out-of-court settlement.

On Thursday (Feb 28) night, Anwar said that he had proof that PAS paid Rewcastle Brown to settle the suit.