SN Nair said this must be done within a stipulated time as provided under the English court rules.
“Failure to do this will amount to Clare obtaining a judgement in her favour,” the lawyer told FMT.
Nair said he believed Hadi’s lawyers in London would rebut the counter-claim due to the serious allegations made.
He said this in response to the Sarawak Report editor who filed the counter-claim and defence to Hadi’s defamation suit filed in April.
In her counter-claim, the whistleblower website editor said they want to discredit her and Sarawak Report in its “justified campaign” that Najib be removed from office and be brought to justice for his alleged corrupt and criminal conduct.
In court papers sighted by FMT, Clare said Hadi, whether by himself or his agents, had been party to the publication of a series of articles, viciously or racially abusing, defaming and harassing her on the Third Force and Malaysia Today websites.
In the counter-claim filed on Oct 11, she said these publications amounted to harassment.
In it, she has implicated Najib in the financial scandal of state investor 1MDB, the Scorpene submarine deal and the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, the prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy, endemic corruption and money politics in the 2013 general election.
Clare has also listed out at least 10 senior PAS officials from the ulama group who have been beneficiaries of money sourced from 1MDB.
Hadi filed his suit at the London High Court following an article she wrote on Aug 6 last year.
Sarawak Report ran an eight-paragraph article in which it claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Clare, in her defence to Hadi’s suit, 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 the public’s right to freedom of expression, especially in the discussion of political matters.
Clare said Hadi filed the claim not to protect his image but for the illegitimate purpose of protecting the reputation and advancing the political purpose of PAS and his political ally, Najib.
She said the statements in the article were a matter of public interest.
Nair said Hadi and Clare could also opt to strike out each other’s claim after their defence had been filed.
“But it must be filed before the trial commences,” he said, adding that it would interesting to see which personalities would give evidence.
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