United Kingdom: CFWIJ Condemns The Legal Harassment Against Clare Rewcastle
Location: United Kingdom
Date: June 18, 2021
Investigative journalist and founder of Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak, Clare Rewcastle was subjected to legal harassment by Kuwaiti investment advisor Hammad Al Wazzan. The journalist received letters from a London-based law firm Taylor Wessing on behalf of Al Wazzan. The letters from the law firm demanded Clare remove all the references related to Al Wazzan from her articles mentioned in the Sarawak report.
Al Wazzan is accused of brokering a foul deal between a Kuwaiti and Malaysian businessman. According to Clare, Al Wazzan feels himself a minor character who was made a “fall guy” between two big names. So now he is legally harassing the journalist forgetting his name removed from her published report. CFWIJ stands in solidarity with Clare and demands the London-based law firm to not send legal letters to her. A journalist puts a lot of effort into exposing such a detailed investigation so she must not be intimidated.
According to Clare, the Sarawak report also highlighted the possibility of Al Wazzan being used as the fall guy and agreed to make few changes in the article to reflect his position in a better way. Simkins, Al Wazzan's original lawyers in the UK demanded the Sarawak Report to remove his picture and assured Clare that their client does not wish to impede a story that is important for the public interest. The Sarawak report complied with these demands but then towards the end of May 2020, Clare started receiving calls from Al Wazzan that he was regretting his decision to cooperate with the media.
Clair shared that since May 2021, she has received three legal letters from Taylor Wessing law firm regarding five articles that mention Al Wazzan, published between May to October 2020. The letters asked Clare to remove all the references and information regarding Al Wazzan from the first article, second article, and third article. One of the letters also asked Clare to remove the fourth article entirely and remove Al Wazzans’ reference from her fifth article.
The lawyers communicated to Clare via letters to not share any investigations regarding their client. They described the legal proceeding against Al Wazzan and his release on bail as a private matter. Clare shared that the writ was filed in London High Court by the end of May 2021 but she has not received it yet. The journalist has been vocal about the legal threats she has received in the past as well.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Clare and urges the law firm Taylor Wessing to not intimidate the journalist through legal notices in order to save a possible criminal. We hope that Clare will not be impeded from doing her work. CFWIJ stands in solidarity with the journalist and appreciates her investigative journalism.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.
