Rosmah to testify in graft trial on Tuesday after appellate court dismisses stay application

PUTRAJAYA (Oct 4): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor will have to testify in her defence over the three graft charges in relation to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak at the High Court on Tuesday.

This follows a three-member Court of Appeal bench dismissing her application for a stay of proceedings pending her appeal against the High Court decision not to declare the trial a nullity after it found that the appointment of Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram as a senior deputy public prosecutor was in order.

Justice Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said, who led the bench, ruled that her testimony on Tuesday will not prejudice her and should continue at the High Court.

Meanwhile, the bench also ordered the hearing of her appeal at the appellate court to declare the trial a nullity and remove Sri Ram from prosecuting her to be expedited.

The judge said it is up to the parties to show that there are exceptional or unusual circumstances for the court to grant a stay.

“This bench is, however, bound by the principle of stare decisis (to stand by things that have been decided) in the Datuk Seri Najib Razak case, where a nullity is not considered a special circumstance for a stay.

“Hence, the proceedings at the lower court should continue while we direct that the hearing of her appeal be expedited. This follows that the applicant's counsel had argued that this is a unique case,” Justice Kamaludin said.

The other judges were Justices Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hashim Hamzah.

Last Feb 18, Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ordered Rosmah to enter into her defence when he ruled a prima facie case had been entered against her following the testimony of 23 prosecution witnesses.

The 69-year-old Rosmah, who is wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was charged with soliciting a RM187.5 million bribe out of the RM1.25 billion project that was awarded to then Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin between January and April 2016 through her aide Datuk Rizal Mansor.

She also faces two charges of receiving a total of RM6.5 million — RM1.5 million and RM5 million respectively — from Saidi between Dec 20, 2016 and Sept 7, 2017 at her official residence in Seri Perdana, Putrajaya and her private residence in Jalan Langgak Duta here.

Get the latest news @ www.EdgeProp.my

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates 

Click here for more property stories