Rewcastle-Brown says no comment till Anwar shows proof, while PAS says will respond to Anwar’s claims soon.
Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown says she would only comment on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s claim that PAS paid RM1.4mil to settle its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s libel suit against her out of court if he produced the documents he claimed he had.
“I am not commenting on the settlement as that was the terms of the agreement, although I note that PAS leaders appear to be making comments on the settlement that are designed to create misleading impressions contrary to their own commitments,” she said.
She did not specify what she meant by that.
The PKR president said he was in possession of the bank statements that showed the amount paid to Rewcastle-Brown.
“My name is Anwar Ibrahim. If I do not have the facts, I would not fight.
“But I have the facts and the evidence that PAS had to pay RM1.4mil to Clare.
“I will show the bank statement soon. Which bank? I will reveal later.
“The amount? RM1.4mil,” Anwar said.
He revealed he has the bank statements at a talk in Semenyih Central yesterday. He, however, did not go into detail about the matter, including the bank involved.
“If PAS wants to challenge me, I will show the bank statement. Which bank, you have to wait, the amount is RM1.4 million,” he said.
Anwar said he was willing to be taken to court if PAS wanted to challenge the disclosure.
Commenting on the same matter in a talk at Bandar Mahkota Kajang, Anwar said PAS had transferred RM1.422 million to Rewcastle-Brown on Feb 19.
“Where are we willing to pay those who slander us, I am revealing this because when I asked him (PAS leader) he denied.
“If I’m wrong please sue me, I have given the date and the amount,” he said.
Anwar said PAS had not won in the matter as Rewcastle-Brown never retracted her article claiming that Umno had paid party leaders RM90 million.
Apparently, PAS’ claim of a plot to topple prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad triggered Anwar to open fire on the Islamist party.
He said he chose to remain silent in the face of attacks from PAS over the past years since the collapse of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
“I never responded once, because I considered PAS as an old buddy. I am that kind of a person,” he said.
According to him, the final straw was when the Islamist party attempted to create a rift between him and Dr Mahathir.
He said that Hadi started spreading the rumour of a plot to topple Mahathir.
“I have discussed with all leaders (in Harapan), no one has heard of such plan. (Besides), we are bound by an agreement to support Mahathir as prime minister, so it is not possible to call it off.
“So, there is no basis. And PKR will give our support to Mahathir as we promised.
“Do not try to pit us against one another. This is the work of PAS, that is why I started to tegur (reprimand) them,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening.
On February 13, Hadi said both sides agreed to settle the suit on confidential conditions.
However, he added that Rewcastle-Brown could reveal the details should she choose to, even as he decided otherwise.
Hadi chose to pursue the suit against Sarawak Report in 2016 for its report which claimed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak provided RM90 million to the PAS leadership for their support in the 14th general election.
Meanwhile, PAS will respond soon to Anwar’s allegations, according to its secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.
He said he has documents to rebut Anwar’s claims.
“The proof is in the document. We will respond to this soon,” he said on Thursday (Feb 28).
Asked when he would do this, Takiyuddin said, “Soon…it can be anytime.”
Yesterday, he insisted that no payment was made to Rewcastle-Brown to settle the case out of court.
Related report: Feb 2, Hadi Agrees to Out-of-Court Settlement in Sarawak Report Suit