Hadi lawyers not challenging audio of PAS man admitting to taking Umno money
Sarawak Report says Abdul Hadi Awang’s legal team has taken the position that the wording in the recording was misinterpreted.
(FMT) – Lawyers acting for PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in his defamation suit against whistleblower site Sarawak Report have admitted that a recording said to be of PAS central committee member Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Aziz is genuine, despite previous claims that it was a fake.
Sarawak Report quoted barrister Jacob Dean as saying Hadi had confirmed he would not contest the authenticity of the recording.
It said Hadi’s legal team had taken the position that the wording in the recording had been misinterpreted.
Hadi’s position on the correct interpretation of the recording will be heard in his reply to the defence at the High Court on July 31, it added.
The trial is fixed to begin on April 1 next year, where the position of Hadi’s legal team on the meaning of the recording will be fully explored.
Nik Abduh previously sought to distance himself from the recording in which he allegedly said PAS had taken money from Umno.
On April 5, he denied that it was his voice in the recording but said he would not lodge a police report over the matter.
“It is up to the people to evaluate the situation,” he said.
According to Sarawak Report, Hadi’s lawyers have indicated that Nik Abduh, along with others who were present at the time of the recording, will be among the witnesses called to give evidence at the trial.
Hadi had filed the defamation suit at the London High Court following an article by Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, which was published on Aug 6, 2017.
The eight-paragraph article alleged that RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
In her defence to Hadi’s suit last April, Rewcastle-Brown said the PAS leader was not named or identified in any statement in the article.
She said Hadi’s suit was an infringement of her right and that of the public to freedom of expression, especially in the discussion of political matters.
Rewcastle-Brown had sought to strike out the suit against her, but the London High Court dismissed her application on May 1.
